


Forbidden Friendship

by blowmeharry



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (2010), One Direction (Band)
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Dragons, Crossover, Dragons, Fantasy, M/M, Mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-09
Updated: 2013-07-23
Packaged: 2017-11-24 06:51:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 63,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/631629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blowmeharry/pseuds/blowmeharry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What do you do when the one you love is also the enemy? Louis has his goals set on being the best Viking in Berk, and all is going well until he meets the mysterious Harry Styles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is something else I’ll be writing. I’m not sure about it yet so please, tell me what you think? This is based from the movie How To Train Your Dragon (based, not following completely) so as you read I would recommend listening to the soundtrack because the music is amazing.

This was preposterous.

The best dragon slayer was being forced to stay behind of tonight of all nights when his skills were the most beneficiary. It was unbelievable, absolutely uncanny that Louis of all the others would be locked in the back of the cellar with nothing but a sharp, silver ax to keep him company. He could only whack it repeatedly against the wooden pillar in an attempt to break an escape path.

This was completely, utterly unreasonable. The Vikings _needed_ an expert on their side, but _no._ Louis Tomlinson was just going to sit this one out. The thought was insulting itself, let alone unsettling with him considering he was known best for his bravery and perseverance. No, he wasn’t cold-blooded, at least _he_ didn’t think so. But with his striking personality and witty charm, and his rather compulsive behaviour with no regard to others, perhaps that could be mistaken for a heartless human being.

Like the other Vikings, Louis killed dragons for a living. He could almost be classified as a brooding person with the way he murdered mercilessly, dismissing lives as if they were nothing. They _were_ only dragons anyway. What could they possibly mean to him more than reckless animals that stole their food and only brought turmoil to the village of Berk.

Vikings spent the entire year gathering enough food for the village, and these heartless monsters went out of their way to steal. They were practically begging to be slaughtered, as if they had even half the brains to think they could get past the finest Vikings guarding the village gates.

Louis grunted, latching his ax onto the door with a mighty thrust, mumbling curses under his breath. He swore once he got his hands on those bloody Vikings, he was going to make them sorry for ever keeping him confined. When the latch broke loose and the door flung open, the sound of explosions constricting his eardrums, a sly smirk made its way to his face. Nobody could keep him trapped for long, it seemed.

“What are you doing out?”

“Get inside!”

“Oh shut it, will ya?” Louis rolled his eyes, shouting at the other men angrily. He began walking around, watching as men and women ran around with axes in panic, as if declaring a war. “I just want to help! I don’t see _you_ doing anything. I swear, you give a bad name to Vikings everywhere. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to-”

“Louis, what are you doing outside?” The pig-headed man growled at him. “I told you to stay inside! How on earth did you even get out? I bolted those doors and everything!”

Louis heaved a breathy sigh, dropping his hands to his side. “Stoick, I believe you’re forgetting who I am.”

The chief glowered at him darkly, his chestnut beard the prominence of his face. Louis agreed himself that it was not a very attractive look on him, that shaving off the beard might improve his appearance dramatically. On the other hand, Vikings were supposed to leave an impression.

“Now’s not the time for this, Louis. You need to get back inside, Night Furies are scattered all over—shit!” Stoick ducked his head right as a bolt of fire flew over him, nearly darting his hair. The flames lit up the scowl on his face as he jabbed a finger in Louis’ face. “You see, it’s dangerous out here!”

“Why do you suggest I can’t handle it? Honestly, do I need to remind you who I am?” Louis glared at him, living up to his respective role. “I’m Louis Tomlinson! I can handle anything and everything that walks the face of the earth.” He wouldn’t lie about such a thing.

“Quit with the arrogance and get inside that cellar!” Stoick continued to shout, pointing at the building behind him.

“I’ll prove it to you,” he spoke with indignation, pushing past him to reach the vault where the weapons were kept. It was always Stoick that got on his bad side, telling him what he wasn’t capable of, always putting him down. Well, not this time. Nobody had ever killed a Night Fury, and Louis was going to be the first.

“Hoist the torches!” Someone said from above as flames lit up the night sky, revealing dragons of all kinds flying above.

Louis clenched his fists angrily, wanting desperately to take matters in his own hand and destroy these motherfuckers once and for all. He was searching for any unattended catapults when he caught a glimpse of a teenage boy who appeared to be sitting behind a wall of weaponry, the light from the flames behind brightening the lousy expression he wore.

Louis could have sworn he was staring back and once he came to terms that he was being a little creepy, he retracted his body to the unearthly being behind him which was catching up to him. He ran and he ran, until his legs gave in and he was forced to step into the cottage for something other than a sword.

The young boy’s eyes were on him the minute he stepped in. Louis was breathing heavily, fighting to catch his breath.

“An ax, please,” Louis demanded, the curly-headed boy moving right away to retrieve the weapon from the wall. Behind him hung razor blades and what appeared to be molten steel in the process of being made. Louis grabbed the ax and almost immediately ran outside the cottage, shouting on his way out, “Thanks!”

“Louis!” A voice called from behind. “I thought you were staying inside.”

“Not you too,” Louis groaned, watching the blonde-haired lad as he shot a flame into the sky, a loud growl bellowing in their ears as the two-headed Zippleback flew away in anguish. “Why does everyone think so little of me, honestly? I’m the best we have to offer!”

“You know I couldn’t agree more,” he complied, flipping back his hair. He moved closer to the other boy, keeping his eyes on the figures in the sky.

“Stoick doesn’t think so.”

Helping Louis retrieve the instrument of his choice, Niall clicked his tongue and hollered, “Screw Stoick! Go kick some dragon arse and show him the vicious motherfucker you are.”

From the distance, they could hear Stoick announce to the other slayers, “We move to the lower defenses. We'll counter-attack with the catapults!”

“I plan to.” Louis looked back at his friend before he hoisted himself against the wheeled contraption, pulling it out from the weaponry and out in the open. He squinted his eyes, trying to focus which was rather difficult with his friend babbling beside him.

“Looking sharp, Lou! You might actually hit something tonight and get it over with! I mean I know you like to beat around the bush, sometimes even go to the ends for torture, and I have to say I admire you especially for that and I’m sure Stoick would if he gave you a chance—holy shit!”

Louis shared that mumbled curse, watching as the triggered slingshot flew into the air, near the bell tower, just barely hitting a man standing at the top. The pained screeches, followed by a crash, caused Louis to smile brightly, knowing he’d accomplished something tonight.

“I did it,” he breathed in disbelief. “I killed a Night Fury.”

“I can’t believe this,” Niall said with a gasp, still staring at the sight before them. They had completely ignored everything around them, only able to keep their focus on what they’d just witnessed. “We’ve got to tell everybody!”

“And rave in my glory?” Louis scoffed disapprovingly. “It’s like you don’t know me at all, mate. Nope, the whole village will know by tomorrow. I can guarantee that.”

“Behind you—” Niall began, but Louis was way ahead of him.

He threw his sword over his chest in defence which was rather difficult to do since this dragon—the Monstrous Nightmare—tended to light itself on fire. Whether that was a sign that it was pissed off or just its way of defence, Louis couldn’t bring himself to care as he brought his sword forward and swung it over the dragon, not exactly making a direct hit. He knew he missed because in one frame of second the dragon’s mouth was over his head, and before Louis knew it he was being dragged away by another lad while Niall stayed behind and fought.

“Zayn, I could have handled that myself!” Louis complained, speaking between gasps of breath. Despite his confidence, the Monstrous Nightmare _had_ caught him off guard.

“What, no ‘thanks for saving my arse’? Can’t say I didn’t expect that,” Zayn muttered, wiping a gash of blood from his forehead. He winced, rubbing his bloody hand onto the hem of his shirt. “Fuck, not my face…”

Louis grinned at him, though his mood was far from happy. “Get over it. Now move.” He pushed himself past the dark-haired boy, who then tugged his shoulder.

“Where are you going?”

“To tell Stoick to shove his ego up his arse because I caught a Night Fury,” the feathered-hair boy smiled proudly, not letting Zayn’s irritated expression affect him.

“Really?” Zayn didn’t sound truly convinced. “Where is it?”

“Somewhere in the forest. I’ll look for it later,” Louis assured him, wagging a hand in his face as he began to take off again.

The sight was pretty awful, to say the least. The destruction was only the least of their worries considering the many lives that had been taken tonight. It wasn’t fair. These fucking animals came by every now and then to steal food that the Vikings spent months growing and finding and what did that do for them? Nothing but fill their stomachs only to return for more. It wasn’t a very rewarding lifestyle, really.

He flung another slingshot at what appeared to be a Gronckle, which were rather hippo-like and smaller compared to the other dragons. Louis missed this time and decided to give up.

It wasn’t too often that he ran from a fight, but he _had_ been locked up all night and besides the amazing fact that he caught a Night Fury, he just wasn’t at the top of his game tonight.

He started to head back to his house, triumphant after tonight’s events. There was no doubt his reputation would improve and more people would gain respect for him, Stoick included. It wasn’t that Louis _wasn’t_ good, just that Stoick was the chief of the tribe and was hard to impress.

He passed the same building he’d been in several minutes before and noticed that the teenager was no longer sitting inside. Perhaps he had decided to make himself busy and join the fight instead of just sitting around.

Louis stretched his limbs as he opened the door to his house. Thankfully he lived at the edge of the village, where it was silent enough to get some sleep. The sound of explosions was distinct and almost calming in a way when he lay down to rest that night.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do you do when the one you love is also the enemy? Louis has his goals set on being the best Viking in Berk and all is going well until he meets the mysterious Harry Styles.

Louis trudged through the forest, kicking debris out of­­­­­ his way. He had been searching the acres for what had seemed like hours with no sign of the Night Fury. Growing impatient and rather frustrated, he pushed a branch to walk past. Sadly, it snapped back, hitting him right in the nose.

“Fuck!” Louis swore loudly, bending over to ease the pain. He saw a small coat of blood cover his fingertips when he touched his face and cursed again, now pissed out of his mind, impatience wearing him thin.

He continued to walk at a brisk pace, not slowing down for any reason. When Louis was mad, he was _really_ mad. Even to the point where nothing could stop him from getting what he wanted. It seemed he always did one way or another.

Louis began to hear heavy breathing that didn’t belong to him. He stopped, letting his eyes wander as he told himself that nobody was following him and if anyone were to follow him, they would have shown themselves by now. With that reassuring thought, he proceeded to walk through the empty space between two large boulders.

His heart stammered in his chest when he saw the beast lying before him. The Night Fury was tied in the ropes from the slingshot, lying on the forest floor motionlessly.

The Viking moved closer to get a better look. With its jagged, navy blue and purple scales covering the length of its body and its wings wrapped over its stomach, yes, he could confirm that this was indeed the animal he caught. It was breathing loudly, as if it were in pain.

So the dragon wasn’t dead yet, and Louis had managed to torture it without even trying. Wait until Niall heard about this.

A sly grin spread across the twenty-year-old man’s cheeks as he pulled a knife from the pocket of his khaki pants, holding it in the air as he neared the beast. He chuckled softly.

“I really did it,” he began, stooping down to rest a knee on the ground. “Stoick’s gonna freak.”

Louis laughed humorlessly as he stood back up, ready to end its life once and for all. “How does it feel—” he started but something cut him off. The Night Fury shifted its body and growled. Though it wasn’t too loud, it did catch the Viking off guard.

He steadied his knife in his hand and for some reason his hand was beginning to shake. He analysed the dragon’s emerald eyes staring back at him with the upmost terror.

And for the first time in his life, Louis started to second guess himself.

That realisation didn’t strike it as too odd for him, and he certainly didn’t let that get in the way. He blinked his eyes shut, raising his dagger into the air, preparing to crush it into the beast’s chest and pull out its heart. The men at the village would really get a kick out of that.

The dragon bellowed a loud, exasperated groan and then something strange happened. The knife fell to the ground as Louis dropped to his knees, shaking his head in disbelief. What was going on with him? Why couldn’t he just kill this damn thing and get it over with?

Maybe having too much pride wasn’t always the right away.

Louis pressed the dagger against the rope, cutting it loose. He was in the process of cutting the dragon out of the last rope when he found himself pushed against a rock with the beast towering over him. Louis was pinned down, his heart galloping painfully in his chest. He knew he had made a terrible mistake and now his knife was even too far away to provide him with any protection.

Unable to move, his eyelids flew open and found the green eyes above him. They were glaring down at him, only one possible message that could be interpreted: _kill_.

Louis watched the dragon’s mouth open, green smoke gathering at the end of its throat. The Viking prepared himself, ready to be smoked with its fiery breath. Gulping down hard, he was resolute in a way that was almost cowardice. Louis wouldn’t die with pride.

Then, a blood-curdling scream filled the air and Louis snapped his eyes shut, his heart beating exceedingly louder as the sounds grew distinctly softer.

When he opened his eyes, he watched the Night Fury fly past the tops of trees, away from him. Louis remained by the rock, struggling to catch his breath, trying to make sense of the situation.

He hurried to his feet when he realised he’d let the dragon go.

Something no Viking would have ever done.

Especially him.

~

Louis sat next to Zayn at dinner, eating his roast beef and keeping to himself. The other teens were cracking jokes, laughing about something normal and, of course, ridiculous. Normally Louis would have joined in because he was, as a matter of fact, the life of the party, though it seemed as though everyone else was able to converse fine without him today.

“I’m so excited,” the brunet beside him said aloud. “Dragon training starts tomorrow.”

“You’re always excited, Liam,” Zayn responded, rolling his eyes as he pushed his plate of food away. “You make it sound like we’re searching for the nest which we all know only proper Vikings can even look forward to seeing.”

“Then why isn’t Louis going?”

Louis answered for himself, “Gobber asked me to stay behind and help train.” He shrugged it off, as if his high rank meant nothing to him. “It’s really not a big deal, though. The nest, I mean. How many times have we tried to find it anyway?”

The boys exchanged shrugs, and Louis smiled with self-righteousness.

“My point exactly.”

The two boys proceeded to talk about the _amazement_ of Dragon Training and frankly, Louis couldn’t bring himself to partake in the conversation. He almost wished he was still training, but that was two years ago when he was eighteen like the other boys. Remembering the days of training and the memories that came with it, he shuddered and retreated to sip some of his wine to remind himself of what belonged in the past.  

“So how about that Night Fury?” He heard an Irish voice from across the table.

Louis perked his face up, pretending to act as though he wasn’t feeling every bit of shame. “What about it?”

Niall rolled his eyes, leaning further into the table. There was no doubt others were listening in on their conversation at this point. “You caught it, haven’t you?”

“Yeah,” he declared, smiling proudly and trying to pretend the Night Fury hadn’t escaped. “It was dead when I found it this morning. You should’ve seen it.”

Louis glanced around the table watching as peoples’ faces lit up at the news. He did a double take when he saw a familiar set of curls. It took him a moment to remember it was that same boy from last night. He wondered if he was new here.

Niall was still staring at him with a widened mouth, looking amazed. “Wait until Stoick hears about this!”

“Hear about what, exactly?”

Louis turned his head to see the bearded man standing behind him, staring down at him curiously.

“Louis caught a Night Fury,” Niall explained.

“Is that so?” Stoick questioned, as if it was really that hard to believe that Louis had done such a thing. “Where is it, might I ask?”

“Dead,” Louis responded instantly, stuffing some beef into his mouth. “It was no trouble, really. It was already dying when I got to it.”

Stoick’s look of disbelief transformed into an expression which indicated that he was convinced, almost astonished. He scratched the back of his neck and nodded his head in understanding. “Well I’m impressed, Louis. I didn’t think you had it in you.”

Louis forced a smile, flattered that he managed to get even Stoick to believe him. If only he didn’t feel so ashamed, then maybe he might be able to bask in his glory like he always did. Nonetheless, he prompted to smile as others cheered around him.

Chatter continued as usual but the sound of a chair scraping against the wooden floor caught Louis by surprise. He watched as the curly-haired lad stormed out of the room without alerting anybody’s attention.

Except for his.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do you do when the one you love is also the enemy? Louis has his goals set on being the best Viking in Berk and all is going well until he meets the mysterious Harry Styles.

“Welcome to dragon training!” Gobber cheered. The recruits made their way into the coliseum, the area in which training was to be held. He patted Louis on the back encouragingly. “Go on! Make them comfortable.”

“Alright!” Louis clapped his hands, trying to act official like Gobber. He wasn’t here to just stand around anyhow. “Let’s get started, shall we?”

It didn’t help much that the others were just standing there, some annoyed and some smirking at him with amusement. It did help, however, that three of the recruits were his closest friends. Along with Zayn, Niall, and Liam, there was a young lady and the same curly-haired boy from before.

Louis gave Gobber a look which was basically asking who should explain the rules. When he simply shrugged as a response, Louis took that as his cue to talk.

“Whoever does best will have the honour of killing their first dragon here where the whole village will see,” he said with a click of his tongue. “So don’t fuck up or you’ll ruin your chance.” The crowd that was once talking and laughing was now silent and staring at him intently, the atmosphere reeking with fear.  

He crossed his arms, stepping back to face Gobber. “Anything to add?”

The older man stepped forward, inhaling loudly, “Behind these doors are just a few of the many species you will learn to fight.” He began to trail a path around the recruits. “The Deadly Nadder.”

“Zippleback,” Louis listed off the top of his head.

“The Monstrous Nightmare.”

“Terrible Terror.”

“And the Gronckle,” the Viking finished once he reached the metal doors where the dragons were kept. He rested his hand over the lever.

“Wait!” The young lady screeched. “Aren’t you gonna teach us first?”

“I believe in learning on the spot, uh, what was your name again?”

“Eleanor.”

The doors then swung open, a Gronckle charging towards them with little time to prepare.

“Today’s about survival,” he explained, the recruits all backing away from the dragon.

“If you’re blasted, you’re dead,” Louis informed them in the most condescending way. He then stepped to the side, grabbing a knife from the wall. You know, just in case.

He leaned his body against the wall, watching as the recruits ran from the dragons and picked shields from the ground. “I’d go for the ax!” He suggested but shrugged when nobody listened.

“Your shield is the most important piece of equipment, never forget that.”

In the corner, Louis observed Niall and Zayn fighting over a shield with Liam trying to tear them apart. He shook his head disapprovingly and kept his eyes on the others. He observed as the young lady—Eleanor—did a somersault and hid behind a boulder. Except there was something else behind there. Someone, to be exact.

“Hey!” Louis shouted, darting a glare at the set of curls piled up behind the rock. “We’re all afraid here, I get that. But get out and fight!”

There was a weird feeling Louis got when he stared into his eyes, almost as if he’d seen them somewhere before. He shook it off and watched as the boy made no move to obey Louis, as if he hadn’t heard him at all.

He groaned, running to the boulder once the dragon had charged towards the other side of the arena. Louis looked down at the boy with much irritation.

“Look, your parents signed you up for this. In case you weren’t aware, their war is about to become ours. So I’d suggest getting your arse up and fighting before the dragon fights you.”

When the boy glowered at him darkly, a sense of déjà vu swept over Louis as he tried to recall the last time someone had ever shown him a frown so profound.

His words seemed to do the trick, though, because the boy was standing up now. He walked out from behind the boulder with the upmost confidence, something not even Louis would have ever done.

“Are you mad?” Louis found himself yelling. “What are you doing without a shield?”

When the boy did little to acknowledge him, Louis ran over to the wall to grab a shield for him. What was he, stupid? Who in the right of mind would step out defenseless?

Louis turned his back for a minute to retrieve the metal shield, but when his eyes came in contact with the boy, the equipment dropped from his hands onto his feet. He mumbled a curse under his breath but somehow managed to ignore the pain because what he was seeing was much more important.

The curly-haired boy was standing face-to-face with the Gronckle.

“G-get away from it,” Louis warned, his words still ignored. It didn’t help that he didn’t know the boy’s name. “What’s his name?” He turned to face Gobber, who was bewildered by the sight as well.

“Harry.” The response was barely audible.

“Harry…” he mumbled under his breath, testing the way it sounded on his tongue. “Harry!” he repeated much louder. “Hide!”

The boy turned his head this time, staring blankly at Louis as if standing barely five feet away from the dragon was nothing. This made Louis angry of all things. This kid thought he was better than him, and this was his way of wising up to the role.

Louis sighed. “Lock it up.”

“What?” Gobber said once he snapped out of his daze.

“I said, lock it up,” he growled, speaking behind clenched teeth.

“But we just started—”

Louis gave him an angry stare, determined to get his way. And as predicted, Gobber stepped out to drag the dragon back into its pen, with Harry still frozen in his place. Louis clenched his fists, making his way to the egotistical boy.

“What was that all about?” He managed to get out without yelling.

Harry opened his mouth, finally speaking for the first time. “I guess he liked me.” His voice was low and gravelly, something Louis hadn’t expected from such a baby face. As a matter of fact, it was so unexpected that it even distracted Louis for a brief moment.

“He?” He raised an eyebrow, curious as to why Harry had referred to _it_ as a _he._ “A dragon always goes for the kill. _Always._ ”

“You don’t know that.”

“And you do?” Louis scowled at the younger boy.

Harry just stared at him, his piercing bright eyes causing every bit of hatred to build up in the older boy. Louis had barely met this guy, and he already had a strong distaste for him.

It was a matter of seconds when Harry finally dashed out of the arena, the rest left hanging in confusion.

~

It was barely an hour later that Louis found himself strolling along a familiar trail in the woods. He loved coming here on any occasion, especially when he needed to cool down. Plus nobody could do wrong with some fresh air and the beauty of nature.

He hummed a tune to himself, staring at the ground as he walked. He was so preoccupied in his thoughts from earlier, curious as to why that dragon hadn’t murdered Harry right then and there. Anger boiled in his blood, desperation sinking in, and Louis wanted nothing more than to show the kid his place. What in the bloody hell was he doing in Dragon Training anyway?

Shoving his anger away, he found himself lingering past the same set of boulders as the previous day. Behind another pile of rocks was an isolated cave which led to a deep valley, with a pool of water beneath him.

Louis walked out as far as he could, sitting at the edge. It was a lovely view, to say the least. He found it hard to believe he’d never been here before since it was practically right around the corner.

He was breathing at a normal pace, completely and utterly relaxed until a figure emerged from below, causing him to jump, startled. Louis caught his breath and watched as the Night Fury flew up to the sky and immediately fell back down. He frowned, wondering why the dragon didn’t just fly away. Had it been here since yesterday?

Louis’ eyes peered closer, squinting to get a better look. He scanned the dragon’s body, deciding that everything looked normal as far as that went. And then his eyes locked onto its tail, and half of it was missing. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion; he decided that had probably been his fault.

The Night Fury was ducking its head under water, probably to catch some fish.

Louis immediately rolled his eyes, wondering why dragons bothered stealing food when they could easily find their own.

Its head shot up less than a minute later and Louis gazed at it instantly, frowning because there was something different about this dragon compared to the others. For one thing, it hadn’t killed Louis and it certainly wasn’t going to now. That reminded him of the Gronckle and Harry, and he began to wonder why neither dragon had done anything.

Confused as ever, he shared an intense stare with the beast, trying to find an explanation for the recent events. The dragon was the first to look away, starting off in the other direction.

He had a bit of trouble finding his way back to the village, and he cursed his luck for getting him lost in the forest. It didn’t take long to find the right path, though. His stomach was absolutely aching with hunger by the time he made it to the central cottage where dinner was held.

He stepped inside the building and sat down in his regular seat. Seeing as there were only three others here, he realised he had been early and still had to wait for everyone else to arrive. Louis sighed, dropped his arms on the table, leaning his throbbing head against the wood. All he desired now was to leave to sleep away his troubles.

The sound of a chair screeching against the hard floor grasped Louis’ attention. When he looked up, he saw Harry looking down at him with a blank stare.

“Hey,” he finally greeted Louis, the sound of his voice again surprising to the older man.

Louis directed his attention to face forward, not wanting to look at the arrogant prick.

“I want to apologise.”

“For what?” Louis didn’t even pretend to act interested. He didn’t owe him anything.

Harry shrugged, sitting down. “I don’t know. You seemed pretty angry, though. I figure I’d say sorry for whatever you think I did.”

“It’s what you didn’t do.” He might as well try to talk some sense into this kid. “Why didn’t you kill it? Or even run for that matter?”

“Not all of us are bloodthirsty killers.”

“You’re saying you _can’t_ kill dragons?”

Harry’s response came quickly. “I’m saying I won’t.”

“Really?” Louis scoffed at the irony. “So here you are a Viking put in Dragon Training to fight and kill dragons, but wait. There’s a twist. You _won’t_ kill dragons,” he staggered, huffing his breath. “Good luck training with that attitude.”

“Why should we hurt them when they’ve done nothing to us?”

Louis laughed. This kid couldn’t be serious. “Are you joking? Don’t you realise how many of us have lost our lives because of them?”

“Do you realise how many of them have died because of us?”

The older boy didn’t have anything to say to that, so he just slumped in his chair, silence falling between them.

“I know you didn’t kill that Night Fury,” Harry blurted.

Louis, somehow maintaining his composure, was having an internal breakdown. With a smirk painted on his face, his charisma would surely convince Harry otherwise. “What makes you say that?”

“Well, first off, if you really did kill it, we would’ve seen it by now. Knowing you, you would’ve brought it back to boast. And second, you would have acted more excited. Don’t think your little charade is fooling anyone.”

“You don’t know me,” Louis snapped back, getting more pissed by the second. Who was Harry to tell him who he was?

“I know all I need to know. You’re just like everybody else, selfish and arrogant. Except you have one trait that even you refuse to accept.”

Louis was standing up at this point, his head looking down in level with the ignorant arsehole. “And what’s that?”

Harry’s lips moved slowly, “You’re a coward.”

The Viking slammed a hand against the table fiercely, pushing his chair back forcefully. Louis ran out the doors with an empty stomach, leaving his appetite behind.

Nobody called Louis a coward.

_Nobody._

If Harry thought he was going to get away with this bloody attitude of his, he had to be mad. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do you do when the one you love is also the enemy? Louis has his goals set on being the best Viking in Berk and all is going well until he meets the mysterious Harry Styles.

There was a flash of light followed by the sound of the destruction of wood as the recruits ran for the shields. Louis stood over the central square, so he could hover over the lined walls. It was set up as a maze to make it more difficult for the recruits to run this time.

His eyes wavered over to the opposite side of the arena where Harry stood, holding a shield which had an outline of a red dragon over himself. Well, at least he was protecting himself.

Louis watched the Nadder charge towards Eleanor. She was guarding herself with an ax, flinging it at the dragon. He smiled at that, proud that at least someone was doing something right.

Harry was still standing in place, the shield still in front of him. Louis groaned as he made his way over to him with an ax in hand. He leaned over the edge of the square, bending over to speak to him. 

“I don’t care that you won’t kill dragons,” he told him, using his hands as a gesture to make it look as though Harry was the biggest idiot in the world. “You’re in Dragon Training, and you’re going to do what Vikings do best whether you like it or not.”

The Nadder growled from the distance and Harry, predictably, refused to acknowledge that. “You’re not the boss of me.”

“I stayed behind to help train so you can go out there and fight like the rest of us. So in this case, yes. I am your boss. And you are to follow my orders or the consequences won’t be so pretty,” Louis threatened.

However, the curly-haired lad kept being difficult. “And what exactly is the punishment, boss?” he questioned, raising the pitch of his voice.

Louis rolled his eyes. “Let’s just say you’ll think twice before you talk back to me.”

“Very promising.”

The older boy gritted his teeth, frustrated. “By the time I’m done with you, you won’t even be able to walk.”

Harry raised an eyebrow, his cheeks flushing slightly. “Sounds more like a promise than a threat.”

“What do you—” Louis started then thought back on what he said. His face flaming up in embarrassment, he did his best to forget how unintentionally promiscuous he had sounded. He handed Harry the ax. “Take it.”

Surprisingly, Harry listened this time. He grasped onto the ax tightly, looking as if it had taken his every bit of strength. Louis almost laughed; it amused him endlessly to see the boy struggle for once.

“By the way,” Harry turned to face him. “I’d gladly let you punish me any day, _Louis_.”

Louis stared at him in shock, unable to believe he actually said that. He stared into the other boy’s eyes intensely, feeling rage with something else he couldn’t exactly define. Again another sense of déjà vu passed through him, his blank expression instantly replaced by a scowl.

He averted his attention from Harry in pure disgust. His head was starting to hurt from hearing Gobber’s voice behind him.

Louis took a deep breath. “Today is all about attack. So get to it.” He looked back at Harry, motioning his head towards the direction of the Nadder.

Out of sight and out of mind, Louis focused his attention on the other recruits as they did what they were told, attacking the animal instead of running away. He smiled when he saw the young lady bang on her shield to confuse the Nadder.

“Very nice, Eleanor,” he commented with an approving nod. When she smiled at him, Louis grinned as well. She was actually very pretty, especially for a Viking. She could be a secret weapon. She could play the part of a pretty face while nobody knew of her true identity. Truly a killer at its finest.

“Look for its blind spot! Every dragon has one,” Gobber hollered, cupping his hands around his mouth like a blow horn. Louis scratched his head, getting real tired of hearing that roaring voice.

Zayn was shouting over to Liam, “Move! This is my blind spot!”

“I was here first! Get your own blind spot!” Liam pushed back.

“How about I give you one?”

The dragon then blew fire at them, the flames striking slightly above the top of their heads. They shared a frightened look, dropping their shields and running for their lives.

Louis sighed in disappointment. Even his own friends had so much to learn. But at least they were trying.

Louis’ eyes scanned the coliseum for Harry who he found was once again missing, probably hiding.

“Christ,” he muttered under his breath, then heard the sound of someone clearing their throat behind him.

“Looking for me?”

Louis nearly jumped five feet in the air when he saw Harry sitting on the edge of the square, twirling the ax around in his hand. His eyes bulged wide at how comfortable the boy was with the weapon. He had to be incredibly strong to be able to do that!

“Like what you see?” Harry spoke again, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

Louis blinked, looking away from the curly-haired lad. “No,” he said sharply. “I’d like to see you out in the battlefield like everyone else. Now go before I tell Gobber and—” He was cut off by the sound of the earth shaking beneath them, causing Louis to slip over the edge. Lucky for him, Harry caught his hand and pulled him back up before he could.

He took in consideration how much bigger Harry was than him, even though Louis was clearly older.

Louis shot him a look of disgust when he saw that their hands were still tangled together. “Let go!” He retracted his hand back onto his lap.

“What? No ‘thank you’?”

He looked at Harry and, for the first time, felt little resentment. “Thanks.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do you do when the one you love is also the enemy? Louis has his goals set on being the best Viking in Berk and all is going well until he meets the mysterious Harry Styles.

A fish was thrown out into the cove but when Louis looked through the gap between the rocks, he saw nothing else. Deciding it was safe, he stepped between the boulders safely, holding a shield over his chest.

He walked further into the cove, scanning his eyes over the left of the scene and then over to the right. He did a double take when he saw the Night Fury piled up on a rock, seemingly watching his every move.

As the dragon emerged towards him, Louis smiled weakly, holding the fish out in his hands. He walked closer, offering the creature a snack.

Though his intention wasn’t to harm it—he’d have done so already—the Night Fury still pounced back, tilting its head curiously as if there were something wrong with the fish.

Louis straightened his shirt, and by doing so, he exposed his small pocketknife. The dragon’s once relaxed expression fell into a look of distrust, sealing its displeasure with a growl.

He touched the knife, watching as the dragon continued seething at him, making it look as though Louis had come here to kill it. And so Louis found himself pulling the knife out and tossing it five feet away into the lake without further hesitation. Immediately, the creature’s expression softened.

Louis offered up the fish again, holding his hand out. The dragon approached him slowly. It opened its mouth revealing only pink gums, and Louis did a double take as a set of razor sharp teeth emerged to grab the fish.

He was surprised that the Night Fury still hadn’t tried to hurt him. He stared with amazement as he brought his hand over to touch its head. Unfortunately for him, its expression went harsh again as he flew off in the other direction only to crash several feet away.

Louis moved to sit beside it, careful not to make too much noise to piss it off. The dragon acknowledged him after a matter of seconds and seemed to tolerate him, that was, until Louis attempted to touch him again. When it shot him a furious look and flew off into a treetop, he took it he’d spent enough time with the dragon for one day.

He stalked off until he reached the edge of the lake. Louis took off his shoes and sat on the edge, dipping his feet in the water. It was the perfect temperature, not too hot and not too cold. As a matter of fact, it was even nice enough to swim in.

Making his decision, he stripped off his shirt first. Louis removed his trousers, having a bit of trouble once he reached his ankles, probably due to the tightness. His shoes came off next as well as his underwear. He stepped into the lake, trying to figure out its depth before completely going in.

It went to about six feet; it was a tiny lake anyhow. Louis swam through the water, letting the moisture sweep through his hair. He floated on his back, enjoying how free he felt in that moment as opposed to how confined he felt any other time.

He was practicing his strokes when he finally looked up to see that the dragon was nowhere to be seen. He didn’t think on it much, deciding it probably climbed its way out of the cove. He should have felt thankful that it had left, but instead he felt undeniably alone.

Louis threw his head under water again to soak his hair and when he picked the strands away from his face, he saw a familiar figure sitting on the edge of the rocks above.

The boy, of course, neared the lake, with a smile on his face. A smile representing that of evil.

“What the _fuck_ are you doing here?” Louis finally brought himself to say. He scowled. “Did you follow me?”

“No, I wasn’t following you,” Harry denied innocently. “I simply wandered off into the woods after you, and look, here we are.”

The older boy rolled his eyes, not appreciating the cocky and challenging attitude. Of course, he didn’t exactly expect anything different. He let out a sigh, looking down his reflection in the water.

“Are you sure you should be swimming here?” Harry asked, standing up from the edge. He looked down at the water. “There could be all kinds of things in there.”

“Well, there’s nothing to see here, so you can leave,” Louis said harshly, not bothering to sound the least bit respectful. This wasn’t Dragon Training; they could treat each other as they pleased.

Harry began to remove his shoes.

“What are you doing?”

“Taking a dip.” Harry peeled off his shirt, revealing an incredibly toned chest.

Louis gulped, panic starting to rise in him. Having Harry swim with him was the last thing he wanted.

“You can’t! I’m—” He paused because now Harry had nothing more to expose. Strangely enough, Louis wasn’t doing anything to look away from the profound sight. His cheeks flushed, he continued, “…naked.”

He brought himself to look away once he realised Harry was noticing him staring. His face still red, Louis ducked his head underwater to try and hide the embarrassment. When he returned to the surface, he saw Harry press his fingers to his nose as he jumped into the lake, splashing water all over Louis.

His wet hair was now falling over his face, giving him a much younger look. Harry grinned cheekily at Louis, licking his lips in an attempt to be seductive. An attempt, Louis reminded himself.

“So do you come here a lot?” The younger boy questioned him, floating on his back towards Louis’ direction.

He scoffed. “If that’s supposed to be a pickup line, you could do a lot better.”

“I wasn’t flirting, But hey, if you want to, let me know,” Harry shot him a quick wink, to which Louis rolled his eyes at. “But no really, how did you find this place?”

“I, uh…” Louis couldn’t find the right explanation without having Harry suspecting he was lying. He obviously couldn’t tell Harry the real reason he was here, but he couldn’t give him complete bullshit either. “I actually just found this place today.”

“Really? I thought you were the expert of everything, _including_ the woods.”

Louis chuckled, “You’re right.”

“An expert of everything though… Is that truly possible?” Harry asked, beginning to circle around Louis.

“I suppose, yeah.”

“Well, what about…” Harry trailed off, staring out into space. He smirked widely. “Love?”

“What?”

“You heard me. C’mon, Louis! Who’s the lucky lady? Or man, who knows?”

The older boy was rolling his eyes yet again, backing away from Harry with slight irritation.

“I bet it’s Eleanor. She is quite lovely, don’t you think?” Harry continued smirking at him. His smile grew wider as if he’d just unlocked one of Louis’ secrets. “Oh! I get it! It’s Zayn, isn’t it?”

Louis huffed a deep breath, opening his mouth to finally speak.

Except Harry interrupted him, “You’re right, it’s probably Niall.”

“I’m not gay!” He finally exploded in rage. “Would you please stop? Why do you care who I like anyway? It’s not gonna do anything for either one of us if you know.”

Harry raised an eyebrow inquiringly. “I wouldn’t say that…” When Louis scowled, Harry stared at him with a sober expression, looking almost a little upset. “Why won’t you tell me?”

“First of all, why the _fuck_ should I tell you, out of all people? I don’t even know you very well and frankly, I don’t think I want to so give me one good reason I shouldn’t get up and leave right now!”

“Fine,” Harry snapped back. Louis almost expected him to be upset, but it was exactly the opposite. He was _smiling_ of all things. “I guess I’ll just have to make you tell me.”

Louis furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. Why Harry was acting so confident when the older Viking could easily smash him into the ground was beyond him.  

Harry began approaching him, but Louis continued to back away. As their bodies grew closer together, there was an undetectable look on Harry’s face, and for once, Louis was actually unsure of his intentions.  

“What—” He began to protest but then flinched back when he felt a hand cover his length, moving against him slowly at first. And when he grew hard a few strokes later, he knew this wasn’t going to roll over well. “Harry, wh—”

“Shh,” Harry hushed him, continuing to work against him. Louis struggled to swallow his moans, all the while wondering how the hell he was enjoying this when it wasn’t exactly consensual.

And yet, Louis wasn’t doing anything to get him to stop.

“So tell me, Louis,” Harry spoke between Louis’ gasps, eyes staring at him intensely, making Louis unquestionably harder. At this point, he was even thrusting into Harry’s hand. He hated it; his hormones were taking over while his mind wanted it to end.

Harry blinked, staring at Louis through long lashes. “Who’s caught your eye?”

Louis let out the loudest moan and found himself positioning his hands over the other boy’s shoulders for support. He was so close. So very close to reaching his peak. Louis was moving faster than before, ready to finish, so bloody read to finish. And then Harry’s hand was gone and he swore he’d never felt so incomplete before in his life. 

There was unknown look in Harry’s eyes. “Nope. Not until you tell me.”

Louis frowned at him in bewilderment, struggling to catch his breath. Well, Harry wasn’t going to win this one.

Louis confidently got himself off, showing Harry that he didn’t need someone else to do it for him. And when he spilled his release into the water seconds later, he made sure his moans were loud enough to prove to Harry that wanking made no difference to him, with or without the brat.

Rolling his eyes in annoyance, he sighed, “Okay, look, I’ll make you a deal—”

Louis didn’t let him finish. “I don’t believe in love.” He was absolutely fed up with Harry trying to get insight on his personal life. “Have you got that? Do I need to repeat myself?”

“Can’t say I didn’t expect that,” the curly-haired boy said with a shrug. “I get that you hate dragons, and everyone else for that matter, but I dunno, I expected something different.”

“I guess you didn’t get what you expected then,” the older boy smirked at him, knowing he’d just won.

“Guess not,” Harry shrugged again, looking rather disappointed. “Out of curiosity, can I ask you why?”

Louis pushed his hair back which was starting to dry. “I just don’t see a point to it. There’s so much more to life than finding that special someone. And the drama, God, the drama. It all seems so unnecessary to me.”

“Is that it? Are those the only reasons? Because that doesn’t seem very justified to me.”

Louis huffed another breath, absolutely hammered from Harry’s nosiness.

“The number one reason I don’t believe in love,” he began, making sure Harry was looking him dead in the eye, “is because of arseholes like you.”

Louis climbed out of the lake quickly, grabbing his clothes under his arm as he ran off, wanting nothing more than to get away from the prying eyes. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do you do when the one you love is also the enemy? Louis has his goals set on being the best Viking in Berk and all is going well until he meets the mysterious Harry Styles.

Upon returning home, Louis first bathed himself, wanting to cleanse away the dirty, murky water and the hands that had so unnecessarily touched him. He grimaced as he remembered the events previous as he let the warm water pour over him, washing away the filth as well as his shame.

He walked into his bedroom wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. He breathed an air of relief, finally feeling relaxed in the confinement of his home.

Louis loved being on his own. Not alone, per se, but simply on his own. His mother was out with the ships searching for the nest while he had the house to himself. Now maybe if Louis was younger and lived a different life, he would have put that to use and taken advantage of it by throwing a party or having a friend over. Nonetheless, he was happy with his life exactly the way it was.

Louis was in the process of putting on cleaner pants to rest for the night when he heard a crashing sound coming from the kitchen, causing him to jump slightly. Rushing to his feet, he scatted the room to follow the noise.

Louis wasn’t one to be paranoid or anything like that, but the very idea that someone might have broken in scared him a little.

“Who’s there?” He called out, as his hands lit a candle, lighting the room up dimly so it was enough to see a shadow moving about in the kitchen.

Louis paced himself to near the figure, slowly but surely getting closer. Then it finally emerged out of the shadows, causing the older boy to jump in shock. His tensed expression fell immediately as he breathed an air of relief.

“What are you doing here?” He demanded, pressing a hand over his chest as to calm down his still-racing heart.

Zayn watched him apologetically, “You weren’t at dinner, so I came to see if everything’s okay.”

“I heard a crash,” Louis suddenly pointed out, ignoring his friend’s concern.

“Oh, sorry about that.” The dark-haired male’s eyes hovered over the mess to his side. “You really shouldn’t leave glass lying around.”

Louis shook his head disapprovingly, knowing he would have to clean that up later. Just another load to set over his already heavy-weighted shoulders.

“So why weren’t you at dinner?” Zayn demanded again, not wanting to let this go, obviously. Louis sighed in response, clearly not interested in explaining his mood to him.

“I already ate,” he spoke the excuse after giving it some thought. It didn’t help that his stomach was growling as he talked.

Zayn shot him a smirk, as if surprised that Louis thought he would actually buy it. “You’re a terrible liar. I know you can’t cook worth a shit.”

“We’re having tuna casserole tonight, I could do with a little less fish in my diet,” Louis lied again.

The dark-haired lad shook his head sadly. “Don’t tell me you’re worried about your body again.”

“Some of us have to keep in shape,” Louis said with a shrug.

“Stop bullshitting me. You’re the worst liar ever. Trust me, I would know. After spending years with you I think I know when to tell when you’re feeling sorry for yourself and when you’re just flat out lying. Plus your forehead always squishes together and your voice gets really high when you lie,” Zayn pointed out, and Louis simply looked down in shame. “So I think you should stop with the lies and tell me what’s really bugging you.”

“It’s nothing,” he began to say but Zayn was watching him strongly, indicating he wanted nothing but the pure truth. “Really, it’s nothing!” he repeated louder. “I’m just tired and need some time alone.”

“And you’ll get that after you eat!” His friend insisted, grabbing onto him tightly. “Now come on, we’re even having a bonfire tonight.”

A bonfire? That did sound tempting. Under normal circumstances, Louis would be more than happy to attend. Except for right now when he wished for nothing more than to lock himself up and sleep away for as long as he pleased.

Confident with his decision, he pulled away from Zayn with purpose. “Maybe another time.”

“Nope, you’re coming,” Zayn argued, grabbing onto his arm again, this time dragging him along with him. “Plus Gobber needs to talk to you.”

“He can talk to me later!” Louis protested but found his words to be useless as Zayn had already pulled him outside, not letting go of him for a second.

Louis observed himself, wearing nothing but a loose white shirt with even looser khaki trousers. It was what Louis wore to bed – when he didn’t sleep naked – and was absolutely horrifying for anyone else’s eyes. It was a shame Zayn hadn’t let him change beforehand because now the entire Dragon Training class would see him this way. How embarrassing.

The bonfire wasn’t too far away. It was at the top of a hill, close to where the battle had taken place a few days ago. Louis could already see the fire from where they were and he knew they were getting close. Zayn released him at this point and Louis didn’t bother to try to escape, knowing his friend would only run back and get him.

It wasn’t just the Dragon Training class surrounding the pit of fire. It was practically every teenager in Berk, the ones that were still here. Most were too young to begin training and were still innocent and naïve but just as judgmental as everyone else. Louis tried to ignore the others as he walked up from behind, searching for his friends.

There was an empty space between Niall and Liam and Louis found himself dropping his body in between them, eliciting sounds of complaints from both boys.

“Nice outfit,” Niall was the first to comment, the other boy analysing his clothing with a smirk.

With a roll of the eyes, Louis shrugged off the slight embarrassment. “We can’t always dress well now, can we?”

“But you always dress well, mate.”

“Aww, thanks!” The elder shot him a sarcastic grin, wrapping an arm over Niall’s neck. “Now where are my flowers and chocolate? I expect them here by this time tomorrow.”

“Oh, Lou,” Niall drawled out sadly. “Sorry to say but I have my eyes out for someone else.”

“You’re cheating on me?-” He began to say teasingly but then he saw his friend move his hand over Louis’ lap to reach Liam, patting his knee softly.

“Wait…” Louis frowned but his confusion cleared up instantly, a smirk replacing his frown. “Ohh! I get it now. Well if it makes things any less weird, you do make a lovely couple.”

Niall’s eyes went wide and he stared at Louis with the most shocked expression. “What?! No, no, no! We’re not dating!” He exclaimed, emitting a chuckle which appeared almost forced.

“Oh,” the older boy said instantaneously. “Then why did you do that?”

“Do what?” Niall questioned but the look on Louis’ face clarified the question altogether. “Oh. He doesn’t know.”

So Niall had a crush on Liam but Liam was totally oblivious. Interesting.

“What don’t I know?” Liam suddenly chimed in.

“That I’m madly in love with you,” Louis answered, receiving a punch in the elbow from the Irishman. “Aw, don’t be jealous, Niall! There’s plenty to go around!”

Niall rolled his eyes but he was also smiling once he made eye contact with Liam. Louis sat there awkwardly, watching at the others surrounding them. He observed people talking and laughing, nothing out of the ordinary. He turned back around to say something funny to Niall but did a double take when he saw another figure approach the bonfire. His stomach flipped as he watched Harry seat himself down beside Eleanor.

How did they even know each other? They never talked during Dragon Training. But then again, Louis never stuck around after class and perhaps they’d spent that time getting to know each other.

Louis immediately shook Harry from his thoughts. Why should he care anyway?

“So where were you at dinner?” Liam’s voice stirred beside him.

He opened his mouth to speak but the Irishman spoke over him, “More like the whole day. The whole week actually.” Niall watched him with a look of concern. “I hardly see you anymore.”

“Yeah, where have you been?”

Louis looked at them both, hoping he wasn’t too bad of a liar like Zayn said. “Just hanging around I guess.”

“Oh?” Niall raised an eyebrow curiously. “With who? Can’t be any of us since we’re always together.”

“Stop teasing him, Ni.” But Liam was smirking himself. “We all know he’s been screwing around with Harry.”

“More like screwing Harry.”

“He was coming onto him earlier,” the brunet agreed.

“Stop!” Louis finally cried out, his face flushing profusely. “We’re not… screwing,” he forced the words out. “We’re not even hanging out! Why would you even think that?”

Liam sighed loudly, waving a hand in his face. “Calm down, we’re just messing with you. No need to get so defensive.”

“Yeah, what’s going on? Trying to deny something?”

“No,” Louis shot back. “I just don’t see where you got that idea. We aren’t friends or anything and I don’t speak a word to him outside training.” He shook his head irritatingly. “I don’t even like him.”

“Sometimes great relationships start out that way,” Niall pointed out, their other friend nodding in agreement.

Louis suppressed a groan, his eyes darting to the curly-haired male whose face was lit up from the fire in front of him. Stifling a long and breathy sigh, he turned his attention back to his friends.

“Don’t count on that.”

Honestly, there was no way Harry and Louis could become anything other than two completely different people who agreed on nothing.

“Oi, Louis! Is that you?”

He averted his eyes to see Gobber hovering over him with puzzlement in his expression. It must have been his unusual outfit.

Louis pushed his friends out of the way as he stood up, stepping over the log to reach the older Viking. He looked at him with determination, crossing his arms. “You wanted to speak to me?”

“Yeah, it’s about Dragon Training,” Gobber told him, scratching his thick, scraggly beard. “Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble.”

Louis dropped his shoulders, feeling a little less pressure now.

“I’ve picked up on some rather unusual behaviour with one of our recruits. You remember Harry, right?”

Louis nodded. Unfortunately.

“He won’t lift an ax, he won’t even set a finger on any of the dragons. Any idea why?”

Louis shook his head. “Maybe he’s afraid?”

Now why couldn’t he just tell Gobber the truth?

“Well I won’t have any of that in my class. I’m putting you in charge of getting him to come out of his shell and live up to the Viking name.”

“Wait, Gobber,” Louis began, not very fond of the idea of being responsible for the kid. “Why do I have to do it?”

“Why are you arguing?” Gobber shouted back as if astounded that Louis would even disagree in the first place. “You said you’d help me train and that’s exactly what you’re going to do.”

“But-” Louis started again but stopped, deciding he’d better not go there. He huffed loudly, trying not to let his mood show. The last thing he wanted to do was spend more time with Harry.

“Okay.” He finally plastered a fake but convincing smile on his face and nodded. “I’ll do it.”

“That’s the spirit!” Gobber cheered, slapping Louis on the arm.

When he returned to his friends shortly after, Niall and Liam seemed to be discussing something important with the serious expressions they were wearing. Louis sat himself down in between Zayn and Liam and leaned forward to investigate their conversation.

“Why don’t you just tell her how you feel?” Liam mused, setting his arm over his knee as he leaned his head against it.

“She doesn’t feel the same way.”

Louis frowned, wondering how long he’d been gone. Since when did Niall like a girl? Didn’t Niall like Liam?

Oh.

He grinned with amusement, shooting Niall a smirk. Louis stared at him until he noticed and glowered at him, the expression basically telling him to fuck off. But Louis wouldn’t; this was too great to go unnoticed.

“Just forget it, Niall. It’s not worth it,” Louis butted in, sounding uncharacteristically sympathetic.

He heard Zayn exhale loudly beside him. Strongly shifting his place, he faced Louis with an unhappy expression. “Just because you don’t believe in love doesn’t mean you have to ruin it for everyone else.”

Louis shrugged, slightly amused that Zayn had gotten so defensive when he wasn’t even listening in on their conversation. “You heard Niall, she doesn’t like him anyway.”

He watched the fire as the flames danced in the sky, thinking of how that dragon nearly took off his friends’ heads earlier. Louis almost wished it had.

~

Louis didn’t go to Dragon Training the next morning. He knew it was cowardice to be skipping especially after Gobber had ordered him to look after Harry. But after what had occurred yesterday, Louis couldn’t bear to face the kid.

He shoved away the images that were flashing into his mind, and shivers tingled down his spine when he remembered how Harry’s hand felt over him and… Louis shook his head, wanting to forget that ever happened.

Once he reached the cove, his eyes searched the area for the Night Fury, but he couldn’t seem to find it. Maybe when it disappeared yesterday, it had left for good.

Louis was almost disappointed; he’d come all this way for nothing. He started off back down the familiar path until he decided to change things up a bit. He found himself strolling through a different patch of the woods, recognising it right away.

It was a small area in the forest, but one of the most beautiful places outside of Berk. He used to come here with his father when he was a kid. He hadn’t been here in forever.

Louis sprawled his body on the forest floor, looking up at the sky which was bluer than ever. The birds were soaring past tree tops and up in the air. Jealousy swept through Louis as he watched them fly freely. He desired to fly high in the sky, far away from everything and everyone. He didn’t always feel this way, only when things grew too overwhelming.

After awhile later, he returned to the cove with hopes that the dragon would be there. And to his surprise, it was.

The Night Fury was hanging upside down from a tree, its eyes snapped shut. Louis neared the creature carefully, sitting down and getting as close as he could. He stared at the animal, really taking in its body structure and how everything was so symmetrical and artistic.

The Viking picked up a stick and began sketching it on the sand. Now Louis was no artist, but a sketch was a sketch and managed to entertain him for a while. Once he finished, he watched at it with an impressing look on his face. He started to back up until he noticed a shadow beside him that wasn’t there before.

He turned around to see the Night Fury standing behind him, watching his sketch with much focus. Its expression had changed, its bright green eyes going from menacing to almost… cute in a way.

It hovered over him for a bit and Louis surprisingly wasn’t frightened by its presence. It finally moved away a while later, pulling a branch from a tree and dragging it across the sand. Louis observed as it ran the branch through the sand, drawing some kind of pattern around the Viking.

When it finished and dropped the branch off to its side, it backed away from Louis as if waiting for something. Louis looked at the sketch, noticing it was just a bunch of lines scattered over and around each other. He stepped over one of them which elicited a threatening growl from the dragon. He set his feet over it again, receiving the same response again.

Then he understood what this was; a game of trust. Slowly trying to get on the dragon’s good side, he stepped around each line carefully, making his way through the drawing. He felt as if he was getting close to the edge until he stopped when he felt hot breath on his side. He craned his neck to see the dragon standing less than two feet away from him.

Louis slowly extended his hand out, hoping for the best but expected the worst. He closed his eyes as he struggled to get his hand closer to the dragon. He moved slowly until he felt a scaly texture push up against his hand gently. Louis opened his eyes in astonishment, looking at the animal in disbelief.

He just touched a Night Fury and it had done nothing to hurt him.

The moment was killed when the dragon suddenly glared at him as it turned itself around and ran away in the other direction.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do you do when the one you love is also the enemy? Louis has his goals set on being the best Viking in Berk and all is going well until he meets the mysterious Harry Styles.

“Today is about teamwork. Work together and you might survive,” were Gobber’s first words of the day. Flinging the doors open, the double-headed dragon emerged from its pen, having yet to reveal itself beneath all the smoke.

“Now remember, the Zippleback is tricky,” Louis explained, moving to stand closer to Gobber and away from the smoke. “One head lights gas, the other breathes it.”

The recruits didn’t seem to be paying attention to anything he had to say, which made the Viking roll his eyes. If they didn’t want to listen, it was _their_ death wish.

“Try and go for the wings!” Gobber suggested. “Remember, a downed dragon is a dead dragon.”

Eleanor made the first move, stepping into the fog with a pale of water in hand. Louis’ eyes peered through the smoke, finding it impossible to see any sign of the brunette. He wasn’t even aware of what she was doing until he heard the sound of water splashing on the ground. Within seconds, Eleanor was running back in complete fear.

“Okay…that didn’t work,” she told the rest in between gasps.

“Harry, get in there!” Gobber hollered at him, who was staring at him with a bored look to his face. It seemed to take him a second to acknowledge he was being spoken to, and as if it were no big deal, he was walking up to the dragon with no weapon in hand.

Louis had to admit, it was something to yell at Harry himself to fight but watching someone else notice the boy’s lack of attentiveness was something different. It took a load off his shoulders to know that he wasn’t being blamed for it.

Once Harry was out of their sight, the older man turned his body promptly to look at Louis.

“So feeling better, are you?”

Nodding, Louis replied, “Yes sir.” He hadn’t skipped training yesterday without a good excuse. Not even Louis was that stupid.

“That’s good.” Gobber nodded. “I expect you to honour our agreement.”

“Of course.”

“He doesn’t seem to be needing any help right now…” Gobber muttered, watching Harry run back. There was water dripping from his hair, and he was panting heavily, pressing his hands to his knees to ease the strain on his legs.

“Did you attack?”

“Oh yeah,” Harry said with the upmost confidence, still struggling to regain his breath. “It’s plenty pissed off.”

Then why was Harry wet instead of the dragon?

Louis sighed to himself. Harry’s little act might fool Gobber, but it certainly wouldn’t fool him. He cupped his hands around his mouth and hollered, “Liam! You’re up!”

He kept his head down as he walked over to the other side of the arena to be with Niall since everybody else was now standing with Gobber. Louis’ stance was so comfortable that it took him a while to notice that his back felt a little hot. Almost like someone was breathing onto his neck…

“Louis, look out!”

“Behind you!”

“Fuck!”

Louis was turning around to send them a confusing frown when a force collided with his body, knocking him to the ground. Cursing under his breath at the pain joined at his hips, his eyes peered above to see Harry hovering over him, breathing with such intensity.

His first reaction was the push the prick off of his body, feeling completely violated. He wrinkled his nose in disgust when Harry rolled away from him, hitting his head against the wall. He was groaning in pain, but that didn’t interest Louis in the slightest.

“Why would you do that?” Louis shouted, completely and utterly appalled that Harry was making a move on him during Dragon Training in front of all his friends. Honestly, what was wrong with this guy?

“You’re welcome,” Harry breathed, grimacing as he rubbed his throbbing head in agony.

“You’re welcome?” Louis could not believe what he was hearing. “What should I thank you for?” Louis was fed up. He was sick of this. Sick of being Harry’s fucking toy. “Touching me inappropriately?”

Harry glared at him intensely. He almost looked as though he was about to cry. “I saved your life!”

He picked himself off the floor, wiping the sweat from his brow. “That dragon was behind you. You’re lucky I was there to save you from being roasted alive.” Harry’s eyes were downcast and his fists clenched together. “Do you really hate me so much you can’t even appreciate that?”

Louis stared him blankly, his mouth moving to the shape of an “o” and now he felt horrible for jumping to conclusions. Before he could even think of what to say or do, Harry was heading into the smoke with evident anger. And for once, he had an ax in hand.

Louis was still spacing out, still overwhelmed by those last five minutes, the awful feeling filling his lungs and throat until it was impossible to breathe clearly. He tried to inhale and exhale slowly, telling himself that he would explain the misunderstanding to Harry somehow.

A loud roar buzzed throughout the coliseum followed by a cry from Harry. Louis’ heart beating a thousand beats a second, he rushed to his feet and ran into the smoke until he found the brunet sprawled onto the ground.

The Viking gasped at the sight and lifted Harry’s head to see a gash of blood streaming down his left cheek. “Are you okay?” He asked without thinking, though it was stupid for him to even say.

Harry sat up, tears streaming down his face blending together with the redness, his face now a mess. “Do I live up to your expectations now?” He spat out, his words muffled by barely identifiable sobs. “Will you stop treating me like shit?”

When his voice broke at the end of his sentence, this became the infinite moment where Louis could literally feel his heart break in half.

Harry honestly thought he hated him.

Harry wanted Louis to like him.

He wanted that so badly he even attacked a dragon.

Something he would have never willingly done.

Louis’ mouth opened to speak but nothing came out. A million thoughts were buzzing around in his mind with so many different words aching to escape him, and yet there was nothing he could say to make things better.

Harry’s expression grew more rigid as he sniffed his nose, huffing a loud breath as he stood up. He lost his balance and nearly toppled over, except that Louis caught him before he could. Almost instantly, Louis was pushed back, nearly tripping himself.

And though it hurt that Harry didn’t care for his help, it was nothing compared to the pain he felt knowing he was the reason Harry was hurt.

Harry exited the fog, stomping his way out of the arena, leaving Louis standing with tears that were threatening to spill out of his sockets. Everyone else was staring at him, looking bewildered by what they’d just witnessed.

The fog was starting to circulate until it evaporated completely. The coliseum seemed to grow by a landslide. Niall was resting a hand on Louis’ shoulder but Louis wouldn’t look up.

The ache in his throat was growing and pain was spreading throughout his body as he was reminded of the horrible person he was underneath the picture-perfect shell everyone else saw.

~

Louis ran to his sanctuary after the dreadful scene, wanting to take his mind off reality for a short amount of time, if that.

The forests welcomed him like a baby being born into the world, and Louis was anxious to get there and forget about today, forget about Harry, and forget that he hated himself more than anything.

Expecting to see the Night Fury in its usual hangout was an utter disappointment to Louis because _it wasn’t fucking there._ It seemed that everything was going downhill for him today.

He rolled his fists angrily, growling as he punched a tree behind him, clutching his hands back when hit with the sudden pain. Louis was strong, anybody with eyes could see that, but even with this newfound adrenaline rush and desire to destroy everything in his path, that didn’t mean he was bulletproof.

By the time he reached home, his adrenaline had vanished and he was left feeling lousy. He dropped himself onto a wooden chair, rocking against it repeatedly, staring at the flames dancing in the fireplace. It was intended to keep the house warm but Louis was still sweating like a dog as the events crashed down on him over and over again.

After groveling in self-pity for what felt like ten years, he thought of the dragon and why it hadn’t been there today. Maybe the Night Fury sensed there was something wrong and didn’t want to risk having Louis use it as an outlet.

That was a stupid thought, Louis knew. He was simply being foolish and trying to make everything worse for himself. Then again, the dragon always did seem to be gone when neither Louis nor Harry was in the best of moods…

_“A downed dragon is a dead dragon.”_

Gobber’s words hadn’t affected him when he’d first said it, but Louis was seriously giving them some thought now.

Making his decision, he headed down to the small room in the back of the stall with no idea how he was to do it. He pulled out a notebook of paper from the end of the desk and a charcoal stick, drawing the Night Fury and adding the part of the tail it was missing.

Materials stacked onto each other as Louis struggled to find what was needed. He strung together pieces of leather gritted on the floor. He used a tong to pull pieces of iron from the stone forge, being careful as to not burn himself.

Putting his not-so-artistic hands to shame, he drew out a blueprint of how this would work out. He only hoped he could accomplish this even though he lacked the proper skill.

Louis had the motivation, and that was enough to get the job done.

He pulled himself together, throwing the pieces onto the wooden bench, putting his full effort into figuring out how to do this. And after spending many hours in the work room, struggling to get the machinery to work properly, he finally got it.

Louis smiled with satisfaction, staring at the mechanical fin before him.

He only had to wait until tomorrow to try it out. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do you do when the one you love is also the enemy? Louis has his goals set on being the best Viking in Berk and all is going well until he meets the mysterious Harry Styles.

“For God’s sake, Niall! Pass the carrots before I bite your bloody arm off.”

“Here! Here you go!” the Irishman tossed the bowl of vegetables next to Liam, nearly dropping them in the process. He shook his head annoyingly at him before continuing to speak. “As I was saying, the top two are gonna be selected soon.”

“So?” Liam mused, taking a bite of his sandwich.

Niall drawled a long breath. “I hope I make it.”

“I’m sure you will.”

There was a light blush on the Irishman’s cheeks that anyone could spot a mile away. “I don’t know about that…” His voice droned on as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously, gazing down at his food.

There was a groan evidently coming from the dark-haired male, who was rolling his eyes at the scene in front of him. After what he’d witnessed this morning, he was sure to be irritated at everything.

The two lovebirds continued to converse as Zayn stayed put, tossing his food to the side, leaning his leg over the side of his chair. From a distance, he could see the brunet making way to their table.

“Who do you think will win?” Zayn heard Liam ask Niall, who was busy drinking to answer.

Louis sat down beside him, leaning his elbows against the wooden surface, his head inclining toward the other boys to join the conversation.

“What if nobody wins and Louis’s gonna have to step in?”

The brunet burst into laughter but stopped once all eyes were set on him. “I hardly believe Gobber would do that. And I don’t see why you’re getting all hyped up about this. You’re not a bad bunch.”

Zayn’s lips crept into a smirk as he observed the other two boys coo over the fact that Louis had practically complimented them. The words went along like “Aw, Louis!” and “I told you we’re not that bad!”

He cleared his throat and faced Louis on his left, positioning a hand over the table. “So, where’s Harry?”

Louis’ amused expression immediately faltered into a pitiful look. “How should I know?”

“Well it’s dinner and he’s not here. It’s not like him to skip.”

“You don’t even know him,” Louis shot back, shaking his head.

“Oh okay,” the dark-haired lad scoffed under his breath, “And I suppose you do?”

His best mate sighed deeply, almost as if he was too troubled to say anything.

“What even happened between you guys?”

Louis sat back, pulling his arms away from the table. Zayn expected him to either ignore that question completely, tell him that it wasn’t any of his business, or even go through and tell him everything.

“Why do you care?” Louis shot back.

Zayn nearly dropped his glass.

“I’m your best mate, in case that didn’t cross your mind.” He shook his head sadly, bewildered that Louis had even said that. “I thought we didn’t keep secrets from each other.”

Louis huffed a deep breath. “It’s nothing.” Zayn opened his mouth to argue but Louis kept going. “I mean, yeah, something obviously happened. It was all just a horrible misunderstanding. That’s all.”

Zayn wrapped himself around the words, knowing exactly what Louis was saying. “You owe him an apology.”

His friend’s head jerked up, startled as if that was the worst thing he could possibly do.

“You have to accept him no matter what, Louis. I don’t care that you didn’t like him at first; it’s obvious you like him now. As a friend, at the very least.” Zayn wore a sympathetic expression. He truly wanted to help his friend with his problem. “I can see you feel really bad about this, and I really think if you apologise, Harry might forgive you. And it’s obvious you do care about him or you wouldn’t be upset. So don’t you dare tell me otherwise.”

Louis was skeptical, staring off ahead of him at who knows what. Zayn sat patiently, waiting for his friend to make up his mind.

“Why do you want me to so badly anyway? It’s not gonna do anything for you.”

Zayn twiddled with his fingers under the table, an uneasy feeling settled within him. “I just don’t want you to regret anything,” he answered truthfully, his train of thought temporarily disturbed by the laughter coming from the other side of the table. “I don’t want to watch you throw away something this important. I don’t want this to turn out like Mary.”

Louis’ eyes were glossy with sadness, fully guilt-tripped now that Zayn was bringing _her_ into the picture. He found himself struggling to get the words out, as if it were out of practice to say them. “You didn’t kill her.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that she’s dead,” Zayn responded right away, his face void of any emotion. Dropping his gaze to the floor, he was quick to change the subject. He really didn’t want to talk about his ex-girlfriend anymore. “I’m telling ya, Lou. Harry cares about you a lot too, whether you see that or not.”

Harry cared about him? That couldn’t be true.

He _had_ saved Louis’ life more than once...

But that couldn’t possibly mean anything... 

Letting out a muffled groan, Louis gave in, “Fine. I’ll apologise. But don’t think it’s because I feel bad about it or anything.”

Zayn couldn’t help smiling with relief after that, knowing he wouldn’t have to face his friend deal with something as horrible as what he had went through.

~

“Harry, wait up!” Louis ran after the curly-haired lad after Gobber had dismissed Dragon Training for the day. He was in a rush to get to the forest to show the dragon his creation, but he felt the need to apologise to Harry beforehand.

“I know, I know. I should’ve attacked the Gronckle when I had the chance.”

“No, you did fine today,” Louis answered truthfully because Harry _had_ been trying. He hadn’t attacked the dragon at all, but he’d managed to calm it down and get it back in its pen somehow. “That’s not what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to…” He found it difficult to speak suddenly.

“You wanted to?” Harry echoed, his emerald orbs watching him patiently.

“I’m sorry about the other day,” he blurted out, dropping his hands to his side. “It was wrong of me to jump to conclusions so fast. I should have thought before I said anything. And…you don’t have to kill dragons to impress me, Harry.”

The younger boy scratched the back of his neck, his eyes now in level with the floor. His eyes flew back up to meet Louis’, who was looking to his left nonchalantly, trying to avoid showing any emotion.

“So you don’t hate me?”

“Why would I?” Louis wondered how Harry had arrived at that conclusion so quickly.

“Why would you? I don’t know. You sure don’t seem to _like_ me.”

“I don’t hate you.”

“You act like it,” Harry defended, crossing his arms.

“I know I’m not exactly the nicest guy around, and you’re not exactly the mellowest person to talk to, but that doesn’t mean I hate you.”

Harry didn’t say anything.

“Fine. Whatever.” Louis kicked the dirt beneath his feet, deciding he wouldn’t listen to Zayn this time; Harry just wasn’t worth it. “See you tomorrow.” Turning to walk away, arm grabbed onto him.

“Maybe I’ll forgive you if you let me show you a good time.”

There wasn’t anything in his voice that made his intentions seem promiscuous, but this was Harry after all. “Forget it.” He didn’t want Harry’s forgiveness anyway.

“That’s not what I meant,” Harry said with a sigh. “I meant that we should hang out.”

“I’d rather—” he began to argue but decided that doing so wasn’t the best idea if he wanted to get on Harry’s good side.

“How about we start all over?” Harry suggested, extending his hand in front of Louis. “I’m Harry Styles, and you are?”

“Hungry,” Louis blurted out but kept tabs on Harry’s full name, since he had now learned his surname.

“Well,” Harry smiled shyly, drawing his hand back to his side. “Dinner’s in a few hours. How about we meet up after?”

“I…” Louis began, about to formulate some excuse. Despite the fact he’d apologised and possibly earned Harry’s forgiveness, that didn’t mean Louis wanted to hang out with him. In fact, that was the last thing he wanted. But after the pain he’d caused him, he couldn’t just refuse the offer.

“Sounds good,” he confirmed with a slight nod to his head.

Louis headed back to his place to pick up the finished mechanical fin. With excitement anticipated in his every move, he found himself on the right path to give the dragon the surprise.

The Night Fury had its head beneath the water, and when Louis ran into the cove, its head perked up instantly in surprise. Louis smiled to assure the dragon that it was only him.

He held the basket up in the air as he approached it. “I brought you breakfast,” Louis said, letting the fish fall from the basket. The dragon dove in right away, flinching when its eyes caught the eel. It backed away slowly, shaking its head violently. “No, no, no! It’s okay! Eel isn’t my favorite either.”

The Night Fury began tearing away at the fish while Louis took note that it was now too preoccupied to notice what he’d had up his sleeve next. Louis unwrapped the prosthetic fin from his behind and moved to the back of the dragon, getting close to the injured tail. Except that every time he got near it, the dragon kept sweeping it away as if it knew of Louis’ intentions.

Finally, Louis dropped a knee over the tail, slowly but surely tying the prosthetic fin in place. The dragon’s head jerked up, and its body tensed as it began to move around its tail, feeling the new addition to it.

“It works,” Louis said in astonishment, pleased that he’d actually pulled it off.

He was still smiling with pride when he felt the ground move beneath him, causing him to cling onto the dragon with all his might. Except that the ground wasn’t moving; the Night Fury was.

The wings snapped and the dragon was off in the air, taking Louis with it.

“No! Shit!” Louis cried out as he struggled to hold onto the tail, the air going against him from behind, making it very easy to knock him down. They were moving at a brisk pace, and the second Louis opened his eyes, he stared with terror at the ground below them and how tiny it appeared.

A blood-curdling scream left his mouth as the dragon flipped to its side, knocking Louis down, sending him falling through the air. Muttering every curse word in his head, water hit his sides as he toppled into the lake with a loud splash. Seconds later, the dragon was screaming horrifyingly, crash landing yards away from the water.

Once Louis made it out of lake, shaking away the adrenaline still lingering inside him, he took one look at the Night Fury and understood.

It needed Louis to fly.  

~

It was after Louis forced himself to stomach down the worst soup he’d ever had that he found himself being dragged into the forest for the second time that day.

“Harry! Where are we going?” he demanded, trying to pull from Harry’s grip on his hand.

“You’ll see,” Harry told him as they worked their way further into the woods. It was starting to get dark, and Louis wasn’t used to being out this late.

As their walk progressed, Louis found his surroundings growing more similar. Once they had stopped walking and Harry had released their hands, he knew exactly where they were. The trees surrounding them, the darkened blue sky above them, everything was all too familiar.

“Wow. Knowing you, I expected a bar or something. But this… This…” Louis’ mouth was still gaping, partially breathless from the walk, but more surprised that they were here of all places.

“I come here when I need to relax.”

His eyes then averted to the ground, unsure of what to say next. “I…used to come here a lot,” he began, “with my dad. Before he left us.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

Louis shook his head, smiling sheepishly at him. “Not your fault. I’m over it now anyway.” He wasn’t the type to dwell on something for long, anyway.

“I guess nobody has a great past,” the curly-haired boy said with a shrug.

“I’m going to take a wild guess and assume yours wasn’t perfect either?”

Harry wagged an eyebrow, implying that Louis’ words were in fact correct.

“And you’re not going to tell me, are you?”

Harry’s lips crept to a smile before he retorted, “You’re catching on.” Louis was left with great disappointment while Harry bent over to pick up something from the forest floor. “Well, somebody was here earlier.” He waved the mysterious object in Louis’ face while Louis tried to get a better look at it.

“That’s Zayn’s!” he cried out, his eyebrows furrowing together with confusion.

Harry lifted an eyebrow. “But how would you know that’s his underwear? Never mind, I don’t want to know.”

What was Zayn doing here? And why had he left his drawers behind? He’d most likely have been here with one of his fuck buddies.

“So why did your dad leave you?” Harry questioned him, bringing Louis’ consciousness back to reality.

“My mum thinks he was just tired of Berk,” Louis began, wondering why he was even telling Harry in the first place when the other boy wasn’t going to tell him anything about his life. “But I’m pretty sure it was my fault he left. It was a few years ago, after I…” he paused, suddenly aware that Harry was actually glued to every word he was saying. “After I came out,” he continued, making sure to keep talking as to not give Harry the opportunity to question him further.

“All my life he always saw me as the perfect son. He wanted me to be the best Viking there was.” His words stopped once he noticed how intent Harry was on listening to him speak. “Well, once I came out, he basically lost all hope for me. He was so ashamed to have me as a son that he left my mum and me just like that. He even took my sisters with him,” Louis blurted it all out, feeling his heartbeat pounding loudly against his chest. It had been so long since he’d discussed this with anyone, and he never knew how strongly it had been affecting him until now.

Harry was watching him with an inciting expression, as though he understood Louis’ situation but knew Louis wasn’t asking for any pity. “Well, you definitely proved him wrong.”

Louis looked up at Harry who was smiling at him. _Smiling._ Not a smirk, nothing mischievous.

“You really did turn out to be the best Viking there is,” Harry admitted, his hand set on Louis’ shoulder, their faces growing closer in proximity.

Louis was almost flattered that Harry thought Louis was living up to his respective role, but of course, everyone else thought so too. He was almost flattered except for that voice in his head that was telling him otherwise. There was Stoick who he could never impress. And then there was the Night Fury that was eventually going to become a problem if Louis didn’t put a handle on it soon.

“It’s getting dark,” Harry pointed out. “We should go back, yeah?”

Louis nodded his head, his mind still a bit fuzzy from the past few minutes. He shook off the strange sensation before he moved behind Harry as they made their way through the forest. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do you do when the one you love is also the enemy? Louis has his goals set on being the best Viking in Berk and all is going well until he meets the mysterious Harry Styles.

Louis’ eyes snapped open once he recalled the images bouncing in his head. Whether that had all been a dream or reality had him confused for his first few making minutes.

He could have sworn he was flying, or had been flying, at one point.

Louis was concentrating on remembering the experience, the source of his thoughts, and the realisation struck him that it had actually happened. He rode a dragon. Not only that, but a Night Fury.

He was surprised his contraption had actually worked, that he somehow managed to fly the animal despite how short the trip had lasted.

Sitting upright on his bed, he decided there was no way he could do that again. For one thing, it was completely reckless and dangerous, and Louis shouldn’t have even done it in the first place.

However, his insides were beaming with excitement, and his stomach was doing flips as his mind envisioned the full experience coming into play. He saw himself flying high in the sky, up and away where nothing could touch him.

The Viking wouldn’t lie and say he wasn’t afraid of anything because like most people, and especially in this case, Louis was terrified of heights. He found it terrifyingly mind-blowing at the thought of being so high off the ground. And maybe that would bother him if he wasn’t so stubborn.

Louis knew he would most definitely attempt that again.

He went to the bathroom to wash up before Dragon Training. He was almost…excited in a way he couldn’t exactly put into words. It was almost strange how Louis had first dreaded helping, but he was surprisingly happy with the thought of attending today.

Maybe it was because of Harry.

Not the kid in general, of course. Despite the fact that he had practically given away his biggest secret to the most unexpected person, something he never even shared with his closest friends, that didn’t mean Louis suddenly trusted him. Perhaps it had been the lad’s conniving, manipulative ways which had led Louis to tell him, but surprisingly, Louis wasn’t finding an ounce of regret in that sense.

Considering the horrible first impression Harry had left on Louis, he wasn’t actually that bad.

It was weird how Louis seemed to be in a good mood for the duration of the morning. His breakfast had tasted brutally awful, and somehow he hadn’t minded it in the slightest. Niall getting under his skin about his crush while Louis tried to stomach his meal did little to ruin how he felt. Even when Liam had run off to hide behind Zayn, claiming that the dragon was “too much for him,” nothing was able to ruin Louis’ blissful state of mind.  

He even found himself smiling as he watched Harry tickle the dragon behind its ear, observing it sink to the ground.

He had to admit, Harry really had a way with the beasts.

There was something off with him, except that “off” wasn’t exactly how Louis would put it. Harry was just…different. He wasn’t that same innocent kid he’d yelled at the first day of Dragon Training. And maybe his imagination was getting the best of him, but Harry seemed almost…nice.

Louis found himself thinking about Harry in all sorts of ways. He imagined spending more time with him and getting to know him more as a person. For some reason, he longed to hear about his past and learn what was so horrid about it. He wasn’t sure why he was thinking these things when a part of him still didn’t _like_ Harry, but he couldn’t bring himself to stop thinking of him.

Everything was going well for the Viking until Zayn was running towards the Gronckle with a spear in hand. Louis didn’t know what had in him to run that fast, especially with that amount of determination. And he _really_ didn’t know why he was shouting at Zayn to stop.

All eyes were on Louis, all demanding what the fuck his problem was, and he himself had no idea. Then came the dirty glare from Zayn followed by a response that went along like “The fuck, man? You’re ruining my mojo!” and Louis couldn’t find the words to say to that.

Instead he shook his head and told everyone to carry on, puzzlement reeling into his skin as he tried to understand why he had done that. Maybe it would have been easier to forget if it had only happened once.

Two days later and Louis had spent them shouting at every recruit to stop what they were doing until they gave him that same irritated expression. He mentally slapped himself every time, making up a stupid excuse and assuring them it was safe to continue.

Liam would hold a bow and arrow, aiming for the Nadder, but Louis would stand in his way, retrieving the weapons and taking them out of his reach, muttering to him as he walked past, “You’re not ready for the big stuff.”

Niall would approach the Terrible Terror with complete confidence, looking sharp and ready to strike. However, Louis ended up tapping him on the shoulder, demanding that he speak to him right away for no apparent reason.

All in all, Louis was fucking losing it, and he hadn’t a clue how this had came to be.

It was finally the third day when Gobber had a stern talking to with him. It began with Gobber demanding what was wrong with him, and went into a series of lectures that could only do little to explain Louis’ strange behaviour.

“Have you been getting enough sleep? Are you sure you’re alright?”

“I’m just dandy, Gob,” Louis assured him, playing a cheeky grin on his lips. “I’m just watching out for everyone, y’know?”

“I understand you’re scared. I’m scared too,” the older Viking admitted, sighing. “But you have to know you can’t control them forever. Eventually they’re gonna have to get out there and do things by themselves.”

The brunet nodded his head, one-hundred percent positive that this was not the reason for his acting this way. But Gobber didn’t need to know. Nobody did.

The next day during lunch, Harry sat next to Louis, and the two of them chattered away aimlessly with the other boys about absolutely nothing. Eleanor sat next to them once the Liam, Niall, and Zayn left, and proceeded to hit on Louis like there was no tomorrow. Louis didn’t mind it, though. Eleanor was a lovely girl; he just didn’t like her that way. That and he would never date any of his recruits.

“So…” Eleanor drawled, running a hand through her hair. “Is Zayn single?”

Louis nearly choked on his sandwich, finding it funnier than he probably should. “You’re interested in him?” He had to fight to keep his laughs contained.

“Maybe…” Her face flushed a deep shade of pink. Her gaze dropped to the floor as she crossed her legs. “What’s wrong with that?”

“Yeah, Lou? Got a problem?” Harry leaned further into the table, resting his chin over his hand and smirking at Louis broadly.

The brunet shook his head suddenly, his eyes traveling down to his food which made him cringe with disgust. He looked back up to see Eleanor staring at him, demanding an answer.

“Zayn sleeps around,” he said blatantly. His intention was to make it short, sweet, and to the point, except that the other two were ready to shoot him with questions.

“But maybe I could change his ways—” Eleanor began.

“Don’t bother.”

The brunette’s eyes flashed with disappointment as she pretended hearing that didn’t bother her at all. However, it was so obvious that Louis was even starting to feel bad for sounding so rude about it.

“What I mean is,” he started to say, wanting to say it in the nicest way possible, “lots of people have tried to get him to change, but the thing is…Zayn doesn’t change who he is for anyone. He has too much pride for that.”

“But do you think I could, you know…be the exception?”

Louis furrowed his eyebrows together, trying to look as sympathetic as he could. “I’m sorry.”

Eleanor nodded, her eyes wandering down to the table to which she stared at for about five minutes before getting up to leave. Louis sighed in relief once he was alone with Harry, thankful the uncomfortable questioning was over and done with.

“That was so awkward,” Louis breathed out, letting his hands drop onto the surface of the table. Harry emitted a chuckle beside him before patting him playfully on the shoulder.

“Could have been worse. She could’ve asked _you_ out.”

Louis dropped his shoulders, chuckling lowly at Harry with slight amusement.

“So Zayn, does he really…”

The older boy nodded after Harry’s trailing words. “It’s…complicated. He wouldn’t want me to talk about it.”

“I see.” He scooted closer to Louis, which caused him to flinch at the sudden touch. “Are you okay?” he began to say when their eyes met; Louis couldn’t figure out the perplexity held behind Harry’s sockets for the life of him. “You’ve been acting kinda funny lately.”

“I’m fine,” Louis said with assurance, wondering why that had possibly been brought up. Had he really been that noticeable?

Harry stroked Louis’ shoulder. “You know, it’s okay if you don’t hate dragons anymore.”

The Viking immediately pounced back. “What?” His words came out shaky; he cleared his throat to appear more composed. “What gave you that idea?”

“It’s…erm…kind of obvious.”

“Well, you’re wrong,” Louis snapped back. “I’m exactly the same. Nothing’s changed.”

Harry simply smiled at him, looking rather friendly. “You’ll come to your senses sooner or later.”

The older boy didn’t have anything clever to say to that.

“Fuck off, Harry.”

“Gladly,” he responded with a completely out-of-context smirk. “I have to warn you though, I’m no part time shag.”

“Ugh!” Louis groaned, kicking his foot over the side of the bench. “You’re really irritating, you know that?”

Harry’s playful attitude left quicker than it had arrived. “I could say the same. Why can’t we just have a normal conversation without fighting?”

“Because we’re too different to get along.”

The curly-haired boy bit down his lip, raising an eyebrow. He let out a sigh, standing up as well. “If you say so.”

“Why are you so confusing? What does that even mean?”

Facing his back toward Louis, Harry spoke softly, “You and I are alike in a lot of ways, believe it or not.”

Before Louis even had time to think on the words, Harry was already gone. Of course. Not like Louis hadn’t expected that.

Storming off into the woods, he took deep and easy breaths as he reminded himself that what he would do next would cheer him up very much so. Remembering to bring the harness with him (Louis had stayed up practically all night making the damn thing), he scurried off to the cove with his heart thudding loudly behind his ribcage.

Louis chased down the Night Fury until he got to it, holding it down as he struggled to get the hardness strapped on. Once he was seated on properly, the dragon began flying right away, and Louis began to wonder how it had caught on so quickly.

Maybe dragons were smarter than he gave them credit for.

He didn’t think too much on it after that, for he was too preoccupied with the sight below him. With the wind running through his hair, the cool breeze as they progressed higher in the sky, it was all surreal and almost a little too much for Louis. However, it didn’t last long because once they were hovering over the ocean, they crash landed in the water once Louis lost control over the prosthetic.

With his second attempt, Louis made an addition to his creation, adding a metal clamp to the saddle for better leverage, and silently prayed it would work this time. He hadn’t been hurt too badly yet, and hopefully he could keep this up without any serious injuries.

The dragon and the Viking zipped through the sky, everything working perfectly for once. Louis was getting excited that he’d done something right until he saw the ground below them and a second later, the two of them were strewn onto an open field.

Muttering curses under his breath, he picked himself off the dragon, patting away the dust from his clothing. It became clear to him that this wasn’t going to be easy. Not one bit.

He patted the dragon behind the ear just as Harry had done earlier, and it was to his surprise that the Night Fury rolled over onto the ground, proving that it was an acquired skill, not something only Harry could do.

Upon his way back to the village, Louis was utterly exhausted and felt pain all over. He tried to recall how many times they’d crashed, how many times he’d put himself at risk at getting himself killed. Yet somehow, it was all worth the experience.

From the dock, he spotted a ship being pulled into a harbor, loaded with people who shared relatively the same exhaustion as Louis. Butterflies coiling within him, he ran to catch up with them, excited to hear about yet another failed mission. Maybe it was a sixth sense telling him otherwise, but Louis had a suspicion that something might have actually gone right this time.

“Louis!”

The Viking turned around to face a woman with light brown hair, her looks resembling Louis’ quite a bit.

“Hi, Mum!” Louis cheered, letting her pull him into a warm hug.

“I’ve missed you so much,” she gushed out, patting him on the back. “How have you been? How’s Dragon Training? Have you been eating well?”

Louis laughed, waving a hand in her face reassuringly. “Relax. Everything’s been amazing. How did searching go?”

“We didn’t find it,” his mum told him. “I’m so glad to be back. Being stuck on a bloody ship with all those burly middle-aged men really puts a strain on you.”

“They’re not that bad—” Louis began to argue but his attention then focused on two men stalking off the ship, punching each other in the shoulder, face, and stomach, you know, for shits and giggles. He smiled and opened his arms as if to present the village to her. “Welcome home, Mum!”

“Oh, you silly bugger,” his mum drawled, patting a hand through Louis’ hair, making it a bigger mess than before. “What have you been up to? You look like you haven’t showered in days!”

“I was just in the woods, just playing around in mud and dirt. You’re never too old for some fun!” Louis obviously couldn’t tell her the truth, but he could only hope she would buy the lie.

“Well you’ve certainly changed,” she pondered, gazing at him in wonder. “I’ll be home in a jiffy. I want you washed up and clean by the time I’m home.”

Louis rolled his eyes and groaned, but nodded in affirmation.

“That’s my boy!”

 “Well, well. If it isn’t my favorite Viking.” The heavy Scandinavian accent bellowed loudly in his ears, catching him off guard.

Oh, great. Stoick was back.

Just another problem to add to the list. 


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do you do when the one you love is also the enemy? Louis has his goals set on being the best Viking in Berk and all is going well until he meets the mysterious Harry Styles.

“Stoick,” Louis breathed, stammering with his words. His eyes flashed to his side, seeing that his mum had disappeared and had left him alone with the chief. “Did you find it this time?”

“What do you think?” Stoick’s words were harsh, but his tone didn’t show he was upset or even the least bit disappointed.

“It was right off the coast, wasn’t it?”

“You know nobody goes there,” he warned.

Louis scoffed, “Maybe that’s why we haven’t found the nest.” It was only a guess, and probably didn’t mean anything considering the odds.

“Ah, the attitude and sass. It’s good to be back.” Louis rolled his eyes, knowing he would have to adjust to Stoick’s attitude toward him again. “I hear you’ve taken over Dragon Training,” he droned on, an unmistakably cocky grin shown on Louis’ cheeks.

“You bet I have.” He proudly set a hand on his left hip. “I guess you can see things have been going quite smoothly.”

“Is that so?” There was a hint of amusement in Stoick’s voice.

Louis nodded as the Viking’s face lit up, looking somewhat impressed with him.

“So I assume everyone’s all ready for the faceoff then?”

“Yes, sir.” It was a shame nobody was nowhere near ready, and he was to blame for that.

“You know, I’m actually really proud of you,” the older Viking said, gazing at Louis with absolute seriousness. “You’ve come a long way. Which is why I’m giving you this.” His steps traced back to the ships. He pulled out from the storage what appeared to be an extraordinary form of a Viking helmet. From the silver plate to the gold horns extended from the sides, it had everything.

“To show how much I—all of us appreciate everything you’re doing,” he explained, handing the object to Louis, but Louis didn’t take it until after a moment’s hesitation, not quite sure how to treat the situation.

“You don’t have to—”

“You deserve it.” Stoick peered at him carefully, showing that he was being completely serious.

Louis just stared at him with astonishment, his expression fazed and fixated on Stoick suspiciously. Surely he couldn’t be serious. It wasn’t like him to praise Louis, especially now of all times. And it certainly didn’t help that the guilt was slowly killing him.

He blinked, remembering he was still being spoken to. “Oh. Uh…thanks.” Louis tapped the helmet, releasing a panicky laugh.

“The top two battle is today. Make sure they’re ready.”

Louis bobbed his head up and down, clearing his voice of all nervousness before speaking. “Will do. I, uh, better get going now, it’s starting like pretty soon.”

“Yeah, me too,” murmured the older Viking. “See you in the ring!”

Louis gave him a small smile before starting off in a different direction, the symptoms of fear firing inside him, though he described it more as nervous butterflies at the time.

On the outside of the arena was a piece of parchment paper, which listed the event taking place today. Letting his eyes scan down the sheet, with a single glance he spotted the two names and had to look back again to make sure he’d read it right. The first name read Eleanor Calder, but he was not at all expecting to see Harry’s name directly below.

Emitting a slight chuckle, he contemplated how Harry could have possibly gotten through. He _did_ have the skills needed to defend himself from a dragon, but he lacked the skill and desire to kill one, which wasn’t exactly good considering the stakes.

Shrugging to himself, Louis let it go as he opened to doors to enter the seating. However, nervousness was still intact, rushing through him as he entered the coliseum, his eyes searching the seats for an empty space. He was starting to grow rather frustrated that there was nowhere open until he spotted a couple of untouched seats beside Liam. Forcing a smile upon his face, Louis sprang to his friends with relief filling his every nerve.

Louis tapped Liam on the shoulder, ready to relax himself with some ridiculous inside jokes which would hopefully clear his mind. However, Liam seemed too preoccupied with the blond beside him. They were laughing at something and clearly didn’t want to include Louis in their banter.

While Louis was beyond frustrated and stressing over the match, things were a little different from Liam’s perspective.

“Why are you laughing? That wasn’t funny at all,” Liam declared, but even he was laughing himself.

“I don’t—even know,” Niall choked out between bursts of laughter, his eyes tricking with tears. “You’re just so—” More laughter.

“So what? Hilarious? Cheeky?”

Niall was now choking as he struggled to get the worlds out, his voice cracking. “A-all of the above.”

Liam shook his head, widening his grin at Niall’s interesting behaviour. Letting an arm drop on his shoulder, Liam asked with slight concern, “Will you be okay, mate? Do you need me to fetch you anything? Some water, perhaps?” He smirked as Niall’s laughter rose in accordance to the joke.

“Make fun all you want! You’re just jealous you don’t have a sexy accent,” Niall defended once he regained control over himself.

“You’ve got that right,” the brunet suppressed a sigh, not taking any note of the show of flattery on the other male’s face. “Oh, Niall. Teach me your ways!”

A low chuckle was let out when a fist was shot his way towards his shoulders which was somehow dodged. Niall’s fist fell onto Liam’s lap as his hand spread open, pinching down on Liam’s left thigh.

“Whoa, getting a little close there,” Liam told him with blood rushing to his cheeks. He released another chuckle as Niall’s grasp tightened on him.

“You love it, babe.” Niall winked, his tongue flicking over his upper lip, attempting to look sexy. Liam stuck his tongue at him, his eyes watching him for a second until he turned to his right to see a nervous Louis.

He was just sitting there with his hands tucked together over his lap. His feet were tapping at the ground, his knees shaking horrendously. Liam wondered what was wrong with him, and he was planning on asking him, but was distracted by a loud voice that had started to boom across the coliseum, panning silence everywhere.

“Welcome to Dragon Training!” Stoick announced the clichéd message as the audience cheered, a couple whistles here and there. “The list of the top two finalists is posted outside the door in case you didn’t see it. The two finalists are the lovely Eleanor and the charming Harry!” As the two made their way to the clearing, Liam could’ve sworn he was hearing Louis shuffling in his chair beside him.

Both Eleanor and Harry looked amazing, looking almost like they were strong fighters, ready to pounce. This competition was going to be intense.

While Eleanor was best as using weapons as her defense, Harry had different tactics. Sure, he was just like other Vikings, aspired to kill dragons and all, but for some reason he preferred to use calmer approaches that didn’t involve hurting his victims in any way. It was weird to think about, but Liam supposed a little originality never hurt anyone.

Once Stoick’s announcement came to a close, Liam ignored his friend’s comments, instead watching closely as the creature sprinted out of its pen, revealing both of its heads as it charged toward the slayers.

Eleanor was circling around it, a shield protecting her face as she anticipated her first move. Harry was hiding behind a large rock with an ax clutched tightly to his chest. For some reason, he wasn’t looking very confident.

Things changed when Eleanor pulled the ax from Harry, the curly-haired boy giving her a thumbs-up. With the signs of encouragement, Liam questioned whether Harry was going to let her win.

The brunette lifted her ax, approaching the Nadder quickly but carefully. She seemed to be trying to go unnoticed, and she was doing a fairly good job with it until the dragon was too close in range and Eleanor was in danger.

Harry popped out from the fort, dropping everything he had as he sprinted towards her.

“What’s he doing?” Niall muttered, speaking for them both.

What happened next passed quick. Eleanor was in the process of lifting her ax up in the air one minute, and then Harry was standing between the gap, the dragon backing away seconds later. The boy was glaring as he turned his attention to Eleanor whose expression spelled relief.

Liam wanted to yell at them to watch out because the dragon had now lurched toward them again. Almost expectantly, Harry went to it with the upmost confidence. Patting it under its head, the dragon was suddenly down on the ground and the crowd went wild instantly.

“I don’t know what just happened, but I’m excited,” Liam told his friends, clapping his hands together merrily.

“Now the elder will decide!” The chief hollered over the noise as spacious bodies turned to the older woman standing on the edge of the clearing, eyeing both of the contestants carefully, thinking hard. Stoick raised a hand over Eleanor’s head first whose cheers weren’t as miraculous and profound as Harry’s.

“Harry is the winner!” The bearded Viking proclaimed, tossing his arm over Harry’s shoulder.

Everyone was cheering and excitement was exploding everywhere. All were clapping and cheering for the winner. All but Louis.

Dinner took place after the tournament. It was fairly boring, at least for Louis. Listening to the entire village praise Harry for his “accomplishment” was a little tiring and had him a bit irritated that they were rewarding him for something he had yet to do. Louis wasn’t used to _not_ being the center of attention.

So instead of acknowledging the people around him, he simply sat and thought. And after that was all over and done with, he somehow found himself _not_ dwelling on the day’s events by pulling Harry to the depths of the forest. Maybe it was the guilt eating him alive but he just had to tell someone. Someone who would understand.

“Where are you taking me?” Harry demanded, surprisingly sounding unaffected by everything, and rather inappropriately happy. But Louis supposed that was just Harry being Harry.

“You’ll see!” Louis piped out, tightening his grip on Harry’s larger fingers. “It’s just around the corner!”

A groan fell from Harry’s lips. “Don’t tell me you’re taking me where I jerked you off.”

Rolling his eyes and trying to keep a poker face, Louis shot him a disapproving glare which led Harry to say, “Oh, sorry. Too soon?”

Giving it a second thought, Louis pondered on whether he should tell him in the first place. Well, he _was_ already here, so there was no turning back now.

“We’re almost there,” he assured Harry and then there they were, sitting over the ledge with the cove directly below them.

“What am I supposed to be looking at?” Harry questioned him, sounding rather whiny. Then again, Louis didn’t exactly blame him for complaining for he would have done the same had been in his place. “It’s a pretty sight though, I have to admit.”

“Yeah.”

Louis’ eyes scanned the area, finding the Night Fury to be out of his sight. Now where was it? More importantly, where did it keep going to? And how? Surely it wasn’t capable to flying on its own, so it couldn’t have possibly ran off like that. Still totally clueless, he took note of the way Harry gazed at him with bemusement.

He spoke up, “Louis? Is there something you need to tell me?”

“No. Forget it.”

“This isn’t about that Night Fury, is it?”

Louis’ heart sank in his chest.

“Does that have anything to do with what you wanted me to see?” Harry continued to pester him. “Because it’s okay if it does—”

“What if I told you I wanted to hang out with you?” Louis blurted the excuse, rushing to get Harry to stop talking. He seemed to know too much already…

“You expect me to believe that? You _never_ want to hang out with me.”

The older boy shrugged, letting his hands drop over his legs. “Maybe things change.”

“If you say so,” Harry challenged, not sounding even half convinced. One long unhappy moment later, he spoke again, “So we’re hanging out then. What do you want to do? We’re not going to sit here all night, are we?”

“The sun is just barely setting, cool your jets,” Louis pointed out, classifying the different colours that filled the sky. He had never been here this late in the day, so this was his first time witnessing the sun set. His attention was fixed solely on the picturesque sight that he didn’t notice Harry slowly maneuvering himself closer to him.

“The night’s still young.”

Instead of listening, Louis was thinking of other things. “Why won’t you kill dragons?”

Harry spoke only calmly. “Why should I? They don’t deserve to be killed.”

“Other than that,” the Viking clarified, the patience in his voice implicating his curiosity.

“That’s really it, I s’pose,” Harry said in utter defeat, shrugging his shoulders. He sighed once Louis looked at him with disbelief. “It doesn’t matter anyway. I still have to kill one.” Dropping his gaze, Louis stared at his disappointing expression with a feeling he couldn’t express. Whether or not he knew it yet, Louis was beginning to understand this strange boy.

“Come on.”

He felt Harry’s hand knot with his, pulling him up from the ground, dragging him out to a secret destination.

“What are you—” Louis began but barely had the strength to continue with how fast they were running. What Louis wanted to know was why they were running anyway.

“You said you wanted to hang out. Well, we’re hanging out!”

Their sprints stopped, and as they caught their breaths, Harry stared at him with an experimental smirk, disheveling his body to a more sophisticated stance.

“Fancy a drink, Lou-Lou?”


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do you do when the one you love is also the enemy? Louis has his goals set on being the best Viking in Berk and all is going well until he meets the mysterious Harry Styles.

Louis didn’t drink much. In fact, you could say he hardly drank at all.

That wasn’t counting wine, of course. Louis drank that most of the time, but he didn’t really count it as anything alcoholic in his book. For Louis, it was more the instance of getting drunk rather than drinking in general. And he didn’t get drunk too often or at least to the point where he was fully wasted.

One minute Louis was being dragged into a pub where Harry bought them drinks, insisting he’d pay for it, and he was falling back on his words the next. He didn’t want to ever admit to it, but he was actually having fun with Harry..

“You are drinking _way_ too much, mister!” Louis mustered, slapping a hand on the table, nearly knocking over his jug of gin.

Harry was sitting in front of him, continuing to sip away, ignoring every one of Louis’ pleas. To his expense, Louis drank as well, his troubles and everything forgotten.

“Oh hush, will ya? I don’t see you taking it easy,” the curly-haired lad challenged, still sounding surprisingly coherent.

“I’m serious! What will your parents think when they see you like this? You’re way too young to be drinking!” Louis was slightly unaware of what he was even saying.

“Age is but a number. Besides, I don’t have parents.”

Louis found himself laughing for no apparent reason, the effects of the alcohol probably to blame. Harry narrowed his eyes and Louis’ expression abruptly changed into that of seriousness with a hint of disbelief.

His thoughts were rather hazy, but he had heard Harry correctly. “You don’t have parents? But…everyone has parents.” Harry wasn’t showing any change in movement, and there wasn’t anything to indicate any betrayal in his words. “Then where do you live? Who do you stay with?”

Harry finished his jug and slammed it down, spilling some the process. “My adoptive parents,” he said with assurance, emitting a somewhat forced laugh. “Calm down, Louis.”

“I am calm!” Louis’ voice cracked when he spoke, and now the two were sputtering uncontrollable laughs. “I didn’t know you were adopted.”

Harry raised an eyebrow. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

Now that Louis thought about it, he knew little to nothing about this boy. But maybe that was subject to change. “Why don’t we change that, yeah?”

“Yeah, one second,” Harry told him, holding a finger to his face. Standing up from his seat, he went to the front and spoke a few words to the older man, and returned seconds later with another drink.

Louis rolled his eyes, looking rather surprised. “How much do you drink?”

“I don’t get drunk very easily,” the curly-haired boy said with a shrug, taking a sip. “Unlike you, mate. You’re totally wasted.”

“I am not!” He defended, crossing his arms. “I can still form coherent sentences, thank you very much!”

“Not for long if you keep drinking.”

As annoying as Harry was, shockingly, he wasn’t bothering Louis as much as was usually expected. Besides, his curiosity was set above everything else, and he was too drunk to find anything less than hilarious. “How often do you drink?”

“Every now and then,” he responded, lightly tapping his fingers against the table. His eyes flickered down and back at Louis, still looking somewhat attentive. “It’s been a while since I’ve really gotten drunk, this is probably the first time in forever.”

“I don’t get drunk too often either,” Louis asserted himself, for some reason finding it necessary to tell this stranger (well, sort of) the little attributes of his life. Then he was laughing for no particular reason. “I remember there was this one time Zayn and I were partying and then Niall—oh God.” Laughs erupted out of him and Harry could only stare with amusement. “Let’s just say Niall does strange things when he’s drunk. Then again, he’s always strange so maybe that’s not saying much.”

“You and Niall good friends?” Harry mumbled so softly that Louis had to stare at him for about five seconds before he understood what he said.

“Yeah. Best friends, actually. It’s been about five years now, I think.” He couldn’t recall exactly how long it had been since he’d met the kid, but he remembered he was fairly young.

Harry nodded in understanding. “So you’ve lived here your whole life.”

“Yeah.” Louis took another sip, narrowing his eyes away from Harry’s.

“How many girlfriends have you had?”

Louis nearly dropped his jug, surprised that Harry had asked that out of nowhere. He didn’t really care though and carried too much adrenaline to just sit there and create awkward tension. So he laughed. “Random.”

“Let me rephrase that. How many people have you been with?”

Louis’ expression fell into that of a smirk, seeing exactly what Harry had done there. “That information, my friend, is confidential.”

“I see how it is.” Raising his eyebrows, he pushed back some of his hair which was looking rather nice in this light—c’mon, there was nothing wrong with appreciating that, okay? “I get why you’re not telling me. You’re really hot so the number’s probably high.”

“Well, actually—” He didn’t really know where he was going with this. Harry thought Louis was hot? Well.

“I know, I know. You don’t believe in love.”

Louis sighed relentlessly, seriously expecting Harry to further evaluate rather than point out the obvious.

“That doesn’t mean you don’t sleep around.”

Louis leaned forward curiously. “What makes you say that?”

“You’re not a virgin, are you?”

“Well no, but—”

Harry’s eyes welled with excitement as if he’d just proved Louis wrong. “Hey, I get it, okay? We all need some action every now and then.”

“What about you then?”

“What about me?”

Knowing Harry was obviously avoiding the question, he allowed himself to clarify, “Are you a virgin?”

“What do you think?” Harry said blankly.

Louis frowned, thinking back on his remark earlier. “I’m going to guess you’re not?”

Laughter spurted out of the younger boy as leaned back in his chair, propping his feet on the table. “Your guess would be incorrect.”

With widened eyes, Louis nearly dropped his jug. “You’re a virgin?”

Harry nodded his head, showing no sign of shame whatsoever. “What? Is that so hard to believe or something?”

“Um, yeah,” Louis said with a scoff, as if it was the most obvious reply in the world. “You just…seem like the type.”

“The type?”

Louis shrugged, not really sure what he meant. “The player. The guy who doesn’t look for a real relationship, just a good fuck.”

Harry raised an eyebrow, his lips forming a smirk. “And you got all that from hanging out with me?”

“I’m usually a pretty good judge of character, not going to lie. And you can still play around without fucking.”

The curly-haired boy’s eyes trailed back to his but didn’t show any sign of being the least bit upset. The seriousness was still welled up in his expression, however. “I’m not a bad guy, Louis.”

“I never said—”

“But you’re thinking it,” Harry suggested. “Aren’t you?”

“No,” Louis shot back, hating that Harry was doing this to him. Making him feel guilty for absolutely nothing. “I told you, I don’t hate you.”

“Mhm,” Harry muttered before pressing his lips to his jug, taking a long sip. Louis followed his lead, drinking as well, wanting to leave these conversation behind. “So who was the lucky gal?”

“Excuse me?” Louis evaluated, unsure if he heard him correctly.

“Your first fuck. Who was it?”

“Uh…” His eyes trailed back to the ground, avoiding eye contact with Harry. “I don’t really want to say.”

“How was it?” Harry continued, making Louis feel more uncomfortable by the second. “Was it fun?”

“That is none of your business,” Louis snapped, then began to feel guilty for sounding so rude. He sighed. “Yeah, it was great.”

“Yeah? Enlighten me.”

Louis was fully blushing now, not particularly feeling comfortable with explaining his first time to Harry. Why did he have to know anyway?

So he went with a simple response: “What’s there to say? We fucked, the end.”

“Jeez, sassy,” Harry motioned his hands toward Louis. “There’s nothing wrong with getting advice from someone who’s had experience.”

“Oh.” Louis’ face flushed darker, now feeling terrible for sounding so rude when Harry was just _curious._

“Whatever. I guess I’ll find out sooner or later.”

Louis found himself grinning at that for no apparent reason. As if being here wasn’t enough, his mind was going into strange places he’d never been before, but he knew it was only the alcohol affecting him because there was nothing more attached.

“So did you come your first time?” Harry casually asked, pulling himself out of his seat and walking over to Louis’ side of the table.

Louis stared up at him. “Yes, I did.”

Harry made a small noise of approval, then proceeded to bend down to whisper something in his ear. His breath was hitting the side of Louis’ neck, directly below his earlobe, which was one of his most sensitive areas.

“I bet you fucked her really hard.” The moment was abrupt but the minute Harry pulled away, shivers had started to run throughout Louis’ body. “I bet she blew you too. Those full, plump lips over your dick, going down on you fast and hard. Do you enjoy being sucked off? I do. It’s a rather enjoyable experience.”

Louis shook his head, recalling the situation and where they were. “You’re way too drunk to be having this conversation.”

“Or maybe you’re just not drunk enough,” Harry defended, holding another jug up to Louis’ face, offering it to him.

Without anything holding him back, Louis took it from his hands and gulped it down without another word. Why he did that was still a mystery to him, but the alcohol coursing through his blood was getting his heart pumping and his mind foggy, which wasn’t so bad.

With his adrenaline pumping, his thoughts were alerting him as well. For some profound reason, he thought about his first time and how great it hadn’t been. I mean, _yeah,_ the sex was great, but there was always room for improvement. It was Harry’s fault for bringing it up, and now Louis was dissatisfied, or in other words, horny as fuck.

The two of them were sitting at the edge of the forest, sitting side by side on the cool grass. It was quiet and serene, only the sound of insects and their breathing filling the air.

“God, we need to do this more often,” Louis said after calming down from his fit of laughter.

“Getting drunk?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Yeah,” the other boy nodded his head, smiling slyly at Louis. “This was fun.”

Louis found himself smiling too because this was, as a matter of fact, fun. Whether or not that was just the alcohol talking.

“You know, it’s late and I stopped caring about what I said to you a while ago,” Louis pointed out, deciding what the hell. He was going to tell Harry, and it wouldn’t become a big deal. “I lied when I said I wanted to hang out with you earlier. I actually did have something to show you.” He didn’t give Harry the chance to say anything. “I was going to show you the Night Fury,” he admitted, hoping Harry wouldn’t judge him too harshly.

“I knew you didn’t kill it.” Harry’s face was blank but his voice was basically telling him _“I told you so.”_

“Well, yeah. It’s…complicated.”

Harry’s head tilted to the side, moving to face Louis. Louis was still staring forward, but he could still feel the boy’s eyes on him.

“But why? Did you want a pet or…?”

Louis couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah, who doesn’t want a pet dragon?”

“Why didn’t you kill it?”

With a shrug, Louis took Harry’s question into full consideration. “I honestly don’t know. I guess it looked as scared as I was, and I couldn’t just…” He paused, exhaling slowly. “I couldn’t just kill it.”

“Well, isn’t this something. Louis actually cares?”

Louis frowned at him, not because of his teasing attitude, but because he didn’t want Harry to see him that way. He didn’t want to show weakness, especially not this way.

“I think that’s absolutely amazing.” Harry touched his arm. “I knew you had a heart somewhere.”

“Oh, shut it,” Louis said with a crooked grin, as if it were complete flattery to hear that. He was acting completely out of his element, but he didn’t seem to mind it at all.

“It’s so pretty out,” Harry changed the subject.

“Yeah, full moon. It’s really bright.”

Louis was staring at the night sky, viewing all the stars in the sky. He wondered what would become of them, whether they would ever affect him. They _were_ only stars after all. But sometimes the littlest things made the biggest impact.

“Stand up,” a voice interrupted his thoughts.

He obeyed Harry’s voice, chuckling as he grabbed onto the boy’s hand, allowing him to pull him up from the ground. Louis was still lost in his confusing thoughts when Harry set his hands over his waist, bringing their bodies together. There was a weird sensation that was becoming noticeable, but he didn’t think too much on it. As if it were natural, Louis set both hands on Harry’s shoulders as their feet began to move.

He was just going to have to forget the warm sensations flowing through him with the realisation that Harry had a good four inches on him. Damn him for being so fucking tall.

“Ever danced under the moonlight?”

Louis bit his lip, allowing himself to stare deeply in the green eyes set in front of him. “I am now.”

He let his head drop as the two of them shared a laugh, pacing themselves across the forest floor, maintaining a steady speed.

“Do you hear it?” Harry said after a moment of silence.

“Hear what?” Slightly panicked, Louis’ eyes scanned the area for any sign of other life, but the curly-haired boy’s laugh brought him back to focus.

“The music.”

“What are you—”

Maybe it was a cheesy scene in a story where two lovers would dance together without music, or that his mind was playing tricks on him, but he was hearing something. Now that might have been the sound of their feet swaying against the grass, or their clothes brushing against each other, or even the slight hitch in both their breaths when they moved toward one another. But there was a noise that was strangely alluring and very comforting.

Louis was just so at peace with himself. 

They coordinated their movements perfectly, and the moment was surreal and a dream to Louis. He’d never danced before and he definitely hadn’t done so this way before. Never in his life did he think he would be waltzing in the middle of the forest with Harry Styles.

“You’re really good at this,” Louis commented, watching down at their feet which, amazingly, seemed to still be moving rhythmically. Louis was deeply focused on their dancing and when the realisation hit that Harry had been staring at this entire time, his attention averted back to the ground as he tried to hide the embarrassing blush appearing quite obviously.

“So you won,” the older boy attempted to strike up conversation again, not knowing why he was bringing this up of all things.

“Yep.”

“What are you gonna do?”

Harry shrugged, his shoulders swaying against Louis’ grasp. “I’ll get out of it somehow.”

“What if there’s no way out?”

“There’s always a way out,” Harry assured him, sounding a little too sure of himself.

Louis let it go, focusing more on their dancing rather than his racing thoughts which only had a little to do with the way Harry kept looking at him.

He could have sworn their bodies were growing closer when Harry opened his mouth to speak again. “You know, you’re not so bad when you’re not an arrogant bastard.”

It took a moment for his words to register in Louis’ mind, but when they did, he found himself laughing. “I could say the same.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Everything was going well, their bodies aligned together with every move, every swift step. When Louis looked up, Harry was staring at him again. Except it was different this time.

“Um,” Louis chuckled softly, trying to break the awkward tension.

He observed closely as Harry’s head craned towards his, causing his heart to skip a beat. What was he doing?

Harry grabbed onto Louis’ hands, pulling them down from his neck to his waist, exchanging their roles. He wrapped both hands around Louis’ neck, bringing his head over and setting it on his shoulder. Now Louis didn’t know why Harry was doing this, considering their height difference made this awkward, but for some reason being this close to Harry was kind of…nice.

He fell into the moment by dropping his head onto Harry’s shoulder, their bodies now fully pressed together with no space in between them. Louis’ breathing was hitching, and his heart was pounding his chest. Harry was just so _warm_ and everything felt so right.

When he felt soft lips move against his skin, the hot breath hitting his neck, Louis backed away, his face incredibly flustered. Laughing it off, they continued to dance with no intention of stopping.

Harry’s hand made its way to Louis’ feathery hair, the feeling of the strands being delicately pulled sending chills down his spine. Harry grinned broadly, flashing his glossy white teeth. “You’re real pretty, Lou.”

Louis found himself laughing at that, the way Harry had phrased it was so awkward and hilarious at the same time. His head was starting to spin, and his laughter was slurring together, and then his foot caught onto something. Louis gasped loudly as the two of them collapsed onto the ground.

Thankfully, nobody was in pain and that could be determined by the laughter erupting from both of the boys. They were laughing uncontrollably, almost mirroring each other in a way that made the moment even funnier. Once their chuckles died down, it became dimly aware to Louis that Harry was on top of him, and their positioning wasn’t likely to change.

Louis sighed breathlessly, feeling his stomach rise and fall with the pressure of the other boy over him. He averted his gaze to look at Harry who was staring down at him, those fucking green orbs seeing right through him. He gulped nervously, trying to move his eyes away.

Harry stared at Louis once again before averting his eyes down to Louis’ waist, and the smirk written in his expression did little to relax him.

“Am I turning you on?”

Louis let out a low chuckle, feeling his face grow hot. “What? Of course not.”

Harry laughed too, and Louis had his hopes up that Harry would drop the subject and stand up, but that wasn’t likely to happen either. Instead, Harry straddled him further, moving his body slowly against his groin.

Louis groaned. _He was doing this on purpose._

“Your dick tells me otherwise.”

He stared at the curly-haired lad with a surprised look, fully aware that there was no going back now. Louis slapped a hand over Harry’s thigh, gently stroking his fingers across the hem of his trousers until he made his way between Harry’s legs. His actions beyond his intentions now, Louis patted him gently below his crotch.

What caught his surprise was the feeling of Harry’s hand grabbing onto his thigh and pinching it hard.

“Does this hurt?” Harry pouted, patting it softly.

Louis’ hands found Harry’s thigh again, this time going directly for the jackpot. Harry started to mutter, “What are you do—” but a small moan escaped his lips as Louis pressed his hand against his crotch, palming him through the fabric.

As Louis worked the other boy, he found his eyes melting as he gazed into Harry’s. His eyes had darkened, his pupils dilated, a clear indication of the effects of the alcohol. It was stunning, nonetheless.

Louis was so lost in his thoughts now that it took him a moment to notice Harry’s head inching toward him, his puckered lips giving away his next move.

But Louis was too sexually frustrated to wait any longer and instead flipped the younger boy’s body around and sat down over his crotch, straddling Harry roughly as their moans synced together.

Harry rolled them over, rushing to pull Louis’ pants down and as Louis stared down at himself, he found it hard to believe that he’d gotten so hard in such a short amount of time. He had little time to think because Harry’s lips were now on him, fully encircling his dick. Throwing his head back, Louis allowed himself to enjoy the feeling of the soft lips going down on him, leaving other thoughts behind.

But Louis wanted more. He _needed_ more.

He flipped Harry around on his stomach, hastily pulling his trousers off as he began to open up the boy. Harry being ready or Louis getting tired of waiting (whichever had come first), Louis pressed himself into the other boy, not bothering to spare him any pain for he was too horny to care.

Louis fucked Harry into the grass, his thrusts growing firmer and faster, their moans filling the sounds of what was left of the quiet atmosphere. Louis spilled into Harry, listening as his name erupted from Harry’s mouth when they both came hard.

It was late and both boys were tired and sure to be hung over soon. Louis stayed on the ground, staring at the full moon before his eyes began to close. Harry’s curls were tickling against his chest, but he couldn’t be bothered to care.

The next morning, Louis woke up with absolute confusion. His view was first covered by a familiar set of curls, and as he watched the sleeping boy beside him, he was reminded of the previous night’s events.

He picked himself off the ground, dressing himself quickly. He looked back at Harry one last time before starting off in the other direction as fast as he could, wanting to be as far as possible when Harry awoke.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do you do when the one you love is also the enemy? Louis has his goals set on being the best Viking in Berk and all is going well until he meets the mysterious Harry Styles.

An arrow flew over Louis’ head, but he ducked before it hit him. He was laughing, impressed that Harry had aimed way out of his reach.

“Next time don’t aim at me!”

“I’m sorry!” the brunet shouted back, a smirk on his face.

Louis shook his head, smiling. At least he was keeping him on his feet, which was a good thing considering how tired Louis felt. After the previous night, he was ready to go home and sleep for the rest of his life. His back—and other parts of his body—ached from lying on the grass for a long period of time—and for other reasons.

He tried not to look at Harry even though he was supposed to be helping him. Since they only had two days to prepare, Gobber had left him in charge. Just like Stoick, he seemed to trust Louis to handle him, which wasn’t the best idea. Louis wasn’t going to force Harry to kill the dragon, but he also didn’t want to be blamed for Harry’s actions. That was his biggest problem.

He glanced over at Harry who was standing face-to-face with the dragon, neither of them doing anything. Should Louis do anything? Probably. Was he going to? Probably not.

Continuing to look at Harry, his mind was taking him into fantasies that had already been fulfilled but didn’t have a hold over him. Louis remembered what had occurred last night; he just didn’t have every detail.

Needless to say, he couldn’t stop himself from staring at the younger boy and imagining him naked.

Struggling to hold himself together, he tried to avert his attention away to the dragon instead, but doing so wasn’t doing anything to make his pants less tight on him. His mind was playing tricks on him, reminding him of how incredible it felt to be inside Harry, the best fuck he’d had in quite some time.

Louis tried to convince himself that it wasn’t that great, but that was a complete and utter lie. Harry had created a mess out of Louis, and even though the memory was vague, Louis knew they had both acted like animals, fucking in the woods as if their lives had depended on it.

He had taken Harry’s virginity, and there was no going back. Surely now Harry was going to be all over him since chemical endorphins were released, and well, people get attached when you have sex. Louis should know that first-hand with the experience he’d had with being rejected after his first time.

He spent the next few minutes thinking of how he could let Harry down, and gave no attention to Harry staring back at him. Louis turned his head away from his gaze, feeling his face grow hot. He assured himself it was only embarrassment and _not_ the fact that he was thinking of how great Harry looked when he was being dominated.

Louis groaned with frustration, trying to peel his eyes away from Harry that had somehow landed on him again. He tried not to think of the unspeakable things he could do to him right now and instead focused on helping him like he should have been doing.

“How’re you holding up?” he asked him once he approached him.

“Fantastic,” Harry said with a smile that wasn’t the least bit convincing. He pulled his bow from his side, holding up in the air in the worst way possible.

Louis sighed. “Let me help.”

“I’m fine.”

“I’m supposed to take care of you, remember?” Louis grinned, setting his hand over his shoulder. “Now your posture could use some work. Try holding it like,” he paused, moving his arm across Harry’s back, grabbing onto the side of his waist, “This.” He lifted the bow so it was parallel with his stance, setting his hand over Harry’s and moving it to grasp the arrow tightly against the bow.

Harry glanced at him curiously, quickly returning to focus.

“Got it?” Louis asked.

“Yeah,” the other boy replied with a nod. He arched the bow back to his side, turning to face Louis, separating their bodies in the process. He looked down, but his voice gave him away. “Thanks.”

Louis smiled with flattery, though he was sure Harry was only trying to be nice. He let out a long sigh, his body swaying with the rise and fall of his chest. “The faceoff is in two days, I hope you’re ready.”

“I guess so. I mean, I have to be. Right?”

“Right,” Louis nodded, trying to imagine Harry’s side of the situation. Harry would have to kill the dragon because nothing good would come out if he didn’t. But even Louis couldn’t make him do that.

“Um, could you show me how to hold a bow again?” Harry asked with a look of uncertainty in his eyes.

“Alright.” He was helping Harry lift the bow up when something else crossed his mind. “Harry? Can I just…say something?”

“Sure, anything.”

“About last night…” he began, unsure of how to go on.

“Yes.”

“Nothing’s gonna change between us, right?”

Harry nodded, but the gesture appeared almost…forced. “Of course.”

“Good.”

~

“You’ve been spending an awful lot of time with Harry lately, huh?”

Louis nearly fell out of his seat, spilling some of his drink onto his lap. “W-what? No, I haven’t.” He grabbed his tablecloth and wiped at his leg with it with much annoyance.

“That’s the only logical explanation for your whereabouts. I never see you anymore.” Zayn sounded a little sad.

“Because you never try and make plans,” Louis tried to formulate a legitimate excuse. It was half-true. It wasn’t like Louis was spending _all_ his time with Harry; he was also betraying the village.

“Well, I’ve been busy… You, on the other hand, have hardly an excuse.”

“I’ve been helping Harry train, alright?” When Zayn gave him a quizzical look, he rolled his eyes. “What? Gobber asked me to. I’m doing him a favour.”

“Yeah. A favour,” Zayn remarked with a roll to his eyes. “Well, whatever. As long as you’re not fucking, I guess.”

Louis’ face grew hot, and he tried desperately to hide that.

“Can Harry even kill the dragon?”

“What?” Louis stared at his friend, astounded that Zayn had found out.

“I’ve seen him fight, and I can tell you there is no way he’s going to kill it.”

Groaning, Louis dropped his gaze to his plate, fiddling around with his food nervously. “Whatever. He’s going to do great, you’ll see.”

“Mhm.” There was no hint of agreement in his voice as he pressed his mouth to his jug.

“Hello!” Another voice joined in.

“Hey, Ni!” Louis greeted his friend, throwing an arm over his shoulder. “What’s up?”

“Did you guys hear about the girl that was attacked last night?”

“What?!” Both Zayn and Louis exclaimed in unison. Louis raised both eyebrows, staring at both of his friends with confusion. “By a dragon?”

“No, by her ex-boyfriend,” Zayn said sarcastically.

“She’s fine now, I think,” Niall continued as Louis stared down at his food which didn’t look as pleasing as it did five minutes ago. “Stoick won’t tell me much, but Liam’s been acting kinda funny about it…”

“Funny?” Zayn raised his eyebrow, cocking his lips to form a smirk. “Must have fucked her.”

“No way.” Niall emitted a laugh, as if the idea was the funniest thing in the world. “I think he wasclose to her though. I never did catch her name though...”

“Danielle!” Louis exclaimed, snapping his fingers together. It had been several weeks before that Liam had introduced Louis to his new friend and somehow Louis had recalled who she was. “It’s her, right?”

“Does it matter? She’s fine now,” he snapped, an edge in his voice.

“Whoa, easy there, Nialler. You sound, I don’t know, jealous?” Zayn suggested, the pitch of his voice rising in sync with what he was saying.

“I’m not,” he defended, but the redness of his cheeks definitely gave him away. “I just don’t think we should be discussing this when there are other things to talk about.”

“Whatever you say.”

“So are you guys excited about everyone returning?” Louis blurted out, wanting to change the subject.

“Ehh. I liked it better when it was just us,” Niall said, sipping some of Louis’ drink.

“There were others too,” Zayn chimed in, but sighed in defeat. “But I knew what you meant.”

Niall set the glass on the tabletop, crossing his legs as he made himself comfortable. “It’s a shame they couldn’t find the nest.”

“Right?” The feather-headed boy nodded in agreement. “This is like the fourteenth time they’ve tried to find it, how the fuck _haven’t_ they seen something by now?”

“Beats me. I’m surprised they’re still trying.”

“Of course they are. They won’t stop until they find it.”

“Vikings...” Niall droned on, rolling his eyes. “We’re all so fucking stubborn and annoying.”

“I’m not annoying!” Louis denied, staring blankly ahead then back at his friend. “Am I?”

“You’re not that annoying. You’re not the one who rambles on and on about things nobody cares to hear.”

“Aw, Niall. I care about what you have to say,” Louis assured him, patting him across the face.

“Thanks, but I was referring to Zayn.”

“Hey!” Zayn hit him upside the head.

“No offence.”

“That still offends me!” The dark-haired boy crossed his arms, looking more irritated than upset. “I’m not annoying. I hardly say much to begin with.”

“My point exactly,” Niall confirmed, Louis shaking his head disapprovingly. He swore the two could never seem to get along. “But yeah, seriously. Why haven’t they found the nest yet?”

“Because they’re looking in all the wrong places,” said a new voice.

The other boys turned their heads to meet Harry’s, Louis’ heart doing a little leap when he made eye contact with the curly-haired boy. His hair was looking messier than usual, and Louis couldn’t keep his eyes away for some reason. He just looked really good, alright?

Louis’ head perked up at Harry who moved to sit beside Zayn, directly in front of Louis. “And how would you know where to look?” Louis set his elbow on the table, dropping his head onto his hand. He searched Harry’s face for any sign of assurance, but couldn’t find anything.

Harry just shrugged, scooting closer to Zayn. “They’ve been searching the same area for years. Don’t you think it’s time for a change?”

“Good luck telling that to Stoick. Just the idea of change terrifies him.”

“Maybe you could talk to him?” Harry suggested. “You _are_ his favorite.”

“I am not. He’s just proud of me for once. And there’s nothing wrong with that.” You know, if Louis forgot that he was letting the village down more than he was helping.

“So Harry,” Zayn said abruptly, putting their exchange of words behind them. “You’re new here. How long have you lived here?”

“A couple of months.”

Louis’ life nearly flashed before his eyes. He knew he had to have noticed Harry sooner if he had been here this whole time. How could he not? Those profound, emerald orbs were easy to pick out even in a crowd of people.

“You did great yesterday,” Niall commented, nearly giving Louis a heart attack. He had to remind himself that Niall was referring to the match, _not_ the sex that he didn’t know about anyway.

“Thanks.” Harry sounded very modest for the accomplishment. It was almost out of character.

“How are you so good with dragons?” Niall chuckled slightly. “I’m totally jealous, mate.”

“I used to train a lot. I’ve lived in a lot of places so I’ve adapted to new and different methods,” Harry answered with a nod. Louis was shocked himself, the thought almost too scary to consider. With his answer, it justified that he could even be _better_ than Louis.

The Irishman breathed, “That’s neat. Wow. You think you could help a mate out?”

“Yeah, of course. But I think you should ask Louis. He _is_ the best Viking here.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Louis scoffed, trying to sound modest despite the fact he was also grinning beneath everything.

“C’mon, Lou! You and I both know that’s the truth.”

Louis laughed, moving both hands away from the table. “Don’t flatter yourself. _You’re_ the one who gets to kill the dragon.”

“So? Didn’t you make it to the faceoff too?”

“Actually...”

“He didn’t,” Zayn answered for him, diving into the conversation. “He trained long and hard, practically spent every minute of every day locked up in the arena, trying so hard to impress Stoick. And after all that, he still didn’t get his fifteen minutes of fame.”

“Oh,” Harry said.

Louis leaned further into the table. “You make it sound so awful. It wasn’t that bad. That was back when I was still growing as a Viking. I was a fetus!”

Harry giggled softly at the remark, which Louis heard right away since he was the only one who reacted to Louis’ statement of defense. He pretended it wasn’t absolutely adorable.

“We should throw Harry a party,” Niall whispered loudly to Zayn, who nodded in agreement.

“For after his victory, yeah.”

“That’d be fun, I’d totally go! Wouldn’t you, Lou?”

“I’m always up for a party,” Louis replied with a shrug. He found himself staring forward at Harry who looked less comfortable than he had moments ago. Whether or not that had been the mention of his “victory,” Harry was sitting there with a blank expression, twiddling his thumbs.

“What do you think, Harry? You’re the guest of honor so we kind of need your approval here,” the blond-haired lad explained, giggling slightly.

Harry continued to stare ahead, his eyes now looking directly into Louis’. His expression grew less tensed when their eyes made full contact, and Louis fought away the smile that was starting to grow on him.

“Yeah, a party sounds like fun,” he finally said without breaking away from Louis’ gaze.

**~**

There was a breeze coming in from the north, and as Louis flew the dragon over the currents, there was water hitting him from below, but he didn’t seem to mind. What was happening now was the bane of his existence, something he never thought he would never get to experience. He hadn’t gotten too high in the sky yet because he was taking his time so nothing went wrong this time.

Louis turned his attention away and looked down at the sheet of paper in his hands. He had written different positions prior to arrival, that way he could keep control of the dragon. Focusing his eyes on the cheat sheet, he tried to read it even though they were moving too fast and the paper was somewhat fluttering towards him.

“Position three! No, four!” Upon his words, the dragon spiraled downwards sending towards the ocean. Luckily, Louis changed the settings on the tail before they made the impact, and consequently, they began to ascend higher and higher into the sky.

They were heading into a collection of rocks, and somehow Louis was able to maneuver the animal to successfully pass them with little to no damage. There were a few times that the Night Fury hit the rocks because Louis was still learning on getting the hang of it.

“Position four.”

Piercing through the clouds, the view was astounding. Louis could see the entire island, absolutely amazed and surprised that it wasn’t as big as it seemed. He couldn’t get over how free he felt at that moment, the first time he felt free in forever. All those insignificant events that had occurred in his life before now were no match to this very second. Louis didn’t even think of Harry or about how fucked everything would be once Stoick realised Harry couldn’t kill the dragon.

None of that mattered now.

His thoughts were interrupted by the air snatching his cheat sheet away from him.

“My cheat sheet!” Louis cried out, leaning forward to grab it, but by doing so, the clip came undone and Louis had flown out from the harness with only gravity on his side.

“Fuck!” He exclaimed, struggling to keep his eyes open with the air hitting him as he fell. Louis focused his attention on the dragon which was falling as well. “Just—grab onto—yeah! C’mon! Just a little closer now!” He continued to reach for it until they were inches away and Louis got a handle on it. He didn’t hesitate to strap himself back in and the moment he did, they were both flying again.

Every nerve was on fire and he swore his heart was going to explode from pounding so hard. But before Louis could even take a second to relax, they were heading into a larger set of rocks, which were closer together and harder to surpass. He glanced down at his cheat sheet and back at the rocks until he muttered, “Oh, fuck it” as he let the cheat sheet dangle from his hands. Tightening his grip on the dragon, he put his game face on as he flew them through the rocks perfectly without a single error.

“Yes!” he cheered when they passed the rocks. He was incredibly overwhelmed that he was able to pull it off. Louis wasn’t sure how he managed that, but he felt so...so complete, like that was the biggest accomplishment of his life. Like he was _meant_ to do this. Like he was _born_ for this.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t the only one excited. The Night Fury was roaring triumphantly, and Louis wasn’t too worried until a cloud of blue fire was less than a few yards ahead, slowly dissolving. It wasn’t slow enough, though, because Louis had become slightly singed, though he wasn’t hurt too badly.

They had landed on a deserted beach to take a break, and apparently others had decided to join them. There were all kinds of dragons surrounding them, trying to take some of the food Louis and the Night Fury had found. When the smallest dragon was walking towards the Night Fury, attempting to grab the food, the Night Fury blew a flame into its face, causing it to fall back onto the ground. It didn’t hesitate to snicker as the smaller dragon stalked away.

Louis found himself laughing as he grabbed some of the fish from his side and tossed it over at the other dragons.

“Sharing is caring,” he told them, wondering if they could even understand him. If it was one thing he knew, it was that dragons were a lot smarter than given credit for.

As the dragons ate the fish slowly and with precision, Louis thought that maybe they weren’t so bad after all. They _were_ , after all, being so appreciative over the small amount of fish Louis had to offer.

Louis stared at them blankly, feeling very secure with himself.

“Everything we know about you guys is wrong.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do you do when the one you love is also the enemy? Louis has his goals set on being the best Viking in Berk and all is going well until he meets the mysterious Harry Styles.

“You’re telling me you _rode_ a dragon?” Harry asked with widened eyes. He scoffed, crossing his arms with disbelief. “Yeah, okay.”

“Fine, don’t believe me.”

“No, no. I believe you. It’s just…unbelievable.”

“Yeah, that made sense.” Louis lifted an eyebrow, reclining back on his chair. He stood up from where he was sitting, stretching his limbs which had been remaining in the same position for far too long.

The kitchen surprisingly wasn’t too messy, and Louis was thankful for that. He was only having Harry over for lunch after Dragon Training, but it had somehow become a competition of who could make the best rice patties. (Rice patties weren’t Louis’ favorites, but it was their only available choice unless they wanted to boil raisons or anything of that sort.)

Dragon Training hadn’t gone _particularly_ well that day, but that wasn’t any different than the usual. Harry had actually tried today, Louis had to give him credit, but of course, it wasn’t much nor was it enough. Worried as he was, he still didn’t want to force Harry into doing something he wasn’t comfortable with.

Somehow Harry had perfected his hold on the bow today. Perhaps Louis really had helped him yesterday and was doing more than simply supervising the kid. The kid... Louis hated referring to him with that word, though that was what he was, wasn’t he? Basically anyone younger than Louis was considered a kid, but it just felt weird to refer to Harry as that. Maybe it had a little to do with the fact that they’d had sex, but that hadn’t even crossed Louis’ mind...until now.

Harry was wearing plain brown trousers, the fabric clinging to his skin quite tightly with the small amount of powder that had “accidentally” been tossed onto him, but that was no match for the white tee spreading across his chest, tight enough to show some of the muscle lingering behind, and _what the fuck was Louis doing staring at Harry and having these thoughts?_

So he laughed out of place in hopes to make the situation less awkward. Louis couldn’t remember what they were talking about, but surely it couldn’t have been too important if he’d forgotten. He made his way to the other side of the table, picking up both of their plates in one hand and trudging awkwardly into the kitchen.

“Remind me again why I’m here?”

Louis shrugged, his back still facing Harry. He didn’t know how to respond. “Why not?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t think we were close enough for that.”

Louis sat down again when he walked back to Harry, leaning both elbows against the tabletop. “Oh, please, Haz. It’s not like I’m asking you to marry me.”

“Haz?” Harry raised an eyebrow, his lip starting to creep into a smile. It was obvious he was trying to hide it, though.

It amused Louis that out of all the things Harry could find odd in that sentence, he chose that. He didn’t really have an excuse for the nickname, it just kind of happened. “It suits you. _Hazzabear.”_

Groaning, Harry scratched at the back of his neck. “Oh, great.”

“Hazza!” Louis chirped, making it his goal to sound as annoying as possible.

“God, no—”

“Hazzz...”

He shook a hand in the air while he continued to laugh. “Alright, yeah, get it out of your system.”

After a bit more tormenting, Harry slanted his head to the side and finally nodded, folding his hands together on the table. “So tell me about that Night Fury. What’s his name?”

“Who names a dragon?” Louis huffed, bellowing a chuckle.

“Well, clearly you have a pet so it would make sense for you to at least give him a name...”

When Louis thought about it, Harry was right. Why hadn’t he given the dragon a name? He was past denial at this point. It was obvious he hadn’t killed the dragon and wasn’t going to, though his intentions were still clouded with uncertainty. Harry’s question was dumb in the first place. Out of all the possible things he could have said, he chose to ask if he named it.

“I was nearly smoked alive, y’know,” Louis let him know, hoping he would get Harry to feel a little sympathetic for him.

“Why? Did you piss him off?”

Louis scoffed, “No I did not _piss it off._ I successfully flew us through a bunch of rocks, and it just got excited and decided to try and kill me. No big deal.”

“That’s really interesting.” Harry drummed his fingers against the wood. Eyes once watching Louis closely were now averted at the table. “It really is. I think you’re the first person to ever ride a dragon.”

“That can’t be true,” the older boy argued, finding it hard to believe him. “Surely someone else has done it in the past, yeah?”

Harry shook his head. “I don’t think so. As far as I know, I guess.”

“Which isn’t much?”

“You’re mean,” Harry said, grinning as he slapped Louis on the arm.

“You’re violent.”

“Says the bloodthirsty dragon slayer.”

Louis stuck his tongue out at him. Like a fucking child. “Touché.”

Harry giggled, no he wasn’t laughing, but fucking giggling. Adorable like a little girl’s laugh too. “Man,” he said, dropping his hands onto his lap. “I wish I could fly a dragon.”

“It really isn’t that great…” Louis tried to assure him, but with one look at Harry, he knew his words were far from the truth. “Okay, I’m lying. It was fucking incredible,” he said honestly, sighing. “I’ve never experienced anything like it.”

“I can imagine. You’re lucky, you know that? Not many people get to be like you.”

“So, what you’re saying is not many people get to be an arrogant, selfish Viking who’s supposed to be killing dragons but is riding them instead?”

Harry shook his head. “No, now you’re just putting words in my mouth. But you do have a point.”

“Thanks,” Louis muttered, smiling grimly.

“It’s not necessarily a bad thing, you know. Riding them is better than the alternative.”

“ _You_ would say that…”  Rolling his eyes, Louis let out a sigh, feeling the need to prove himself to Harry yet again. “I’m lying to everyone, people are praising me for things I haven’t done, and they don’t know the half of it. So tell me, Harry, please. How is this good at all?”

“No need to get all sassy all about it.” Harry raised his eyebrows. “I was just pointing out how devious yet clever it is that you’ve been able to keep this up for so long. It was practically a compliment, mind you.”

“I guess I should probably thank you then?”

“You’re welcome,” the curly-haired lad grinned wickedly at him, taking a sip of his wine. Louis had thought through the decision to give Harry alcohol, considering what had happened the last time they drank together. But it _was_ only wine. It couldn’t have too much effect on him.

“Why don’t you believe in love, Louis?”

“Haven’t we had this conversation?” Louis replied without thinking.

“Yeah, but you were bullshitting all of it.”

“No, I—” he began to say but realised there was no point fighting with Harry since that never got them anywhere. “I don’t even know, okay? My dad left us, Harry. He left us with barely a roof over our heads. Do you really think I’m going to believe in something as ridiculous as love after something like that?”

“No, probably not. But why do I feel like there’s more than that? Surely something like that couldn’t have affected you that deeply.”

How was Harry doing that? Acting like he knew everything about Louis. If memories weren’t already running through his mind, Louis would be shouting all this at Harry, again, for unnecessary reasons.

“I lost my virginity shortly after he left,” he blurted out, keeping his eyes low and away from those emerald orbs. “I didn’t even know the guy. He was just hanging around, and we were flirting, and one thing led to the next... It just happened, really.”

Harry just looked at him, giving Louis his full and undivided attention.

“I grew kind of attached, you could say. He was my first; obviously I was going to have _some_ feelings for him. Well, he didn’t feel the same way,” Louis said, dropping his gaze to the floor. “Short story short, rejection sucks. Not only that, but thinking you have a chance when you really don’t…sucks. A lot.”

“I’m sorry,” Harry said softly.

Louis laughed it off, shaking his hand. “Don’t be.” He wasn’t exactly asking for pity, but it _was_ nice to hear that from Harry, he had to admit.

“Call me a heartless arsehole, but I don’t think that really justifies you on giving up on love forever.”

The feathery-headed boy raised an eyebrow at Harry. Even after he’d explained the terrible experience, Harry still wasn’t convinced. “And how do you know?”

“One bad experience shouldn’t take away from the good, and I know I’m getting deep here, but you really shouldn’t let your past haunt you. I’ve had a hard past too, you’re not alone there. But I’m not letting it bother me.”

“Look, I appreciate what you’re doing here, but I really don’t need you lecturing me, alright?” Louis snapped. Immediately, though, he breathed softly, averting his eyes to look at Harry. “I’m sorry, that was rude of me. It’s just, why do you care anyway?”

“I don’t know. I just don’t want to see you unhappy, I guess.”

Louis stared at him blankly for a matter of seconds before responding. “Well, lucky for you, none of that bothers me anymore.”

Silence fell between them for about a minute until Harry decided to break it. “You were great by the way.”

Louis furrowed his eyebrows together. “What are you talking about?”

Harry smirked, “I think you know exactly what I’m talking about.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Well, you should.”

“Well, _sorry_. I can’t help that you’re so damn confusing all the time, and it’s just _so_ frustrating!” Louis exclaimed with an exasperated groan.

Harry seemed to notice the tension he was feeling and moved over to the other side of the table. He set his hand over Louis’ shoulder, comfortably positioning himself onto his lap. They were maybe a little too close but that didn’t matter. 

And surprised as he was, Louis didn’t seem to mind.

“I want you, Louis,” Harry murmured into his ear, causing Louis to flinch back. “I can tell you want me too.”

“I…” Louis forgot what he was going to say once he felt Harry’s bottom rubbing against his groin, causing his breath to hitch.

Harry turned his body around so that he could straddle Louis. Their faces were in close proximity that Louis held his breath to avoiding breathing on the other boy. Who knew how his mouth smelled after the meal they’ve eaten?

Emerald eyes cascaded his view, once again, bringing back another sense of déjà vu. The shade was darker than usual, the pupils dilated with signs of lust, and it was a matter of time before Harry’s hands made their way around Louis’ neck, stroking his skin gently.

“W-what are you doing?”

“You have really soft skin.”

Louis’ face grew hot at that comment. “Thanks?”

Harry moved his hand away, setting it on Louis’ shoulder. Giving Louis no warning, he pressed his lips to his cheeks swiftly, leaving him a moist kiss where his mouth had been. And as if that didn’t already catch Louis off guard, Harry’s lips were suddenly over his, taking his breath away. It didn’t last long because Louis had become fully aware of the situation and pulled away before it went any further.

“Why did you do that?” Louis managed to get out, his eyes widened.

Harry frowned. “You don’t like kissing?”

“I like _fucking,_ ” he clarified, hoping Harry would get the picture.

“So you’ll have sex with someone, but you won’t kiss them.”

He seemed to take Louis’ silence as a yes. Still staring into Louis’ eyes, Harry nodded his head understandably. “I was wondering why you didn’t kiss me the other day. You just went straight for the dick.”

“I did not!” Louis denied, his cheeks flaming. “I was drunk and horny and…you came onto me!”

“I sure did,” Harry replied, flashing him a smirk. Louis rolled his eyes. “I’m a bit sad now. I’ve been told I’m a great kisser.”

“Whoever said that was probably drunk too.”

“You’re not drunk now though, are you?”

“No…” Louis said in a condescending tone, afraid of what Harry was suggesting.

“Well, you’re certainly hard right now,” Harry pointed out, gently stroking a finger against him, a small and barely audible moan escaping Louis’ mouth. Harry was grinning at him, his curly locks the last thing catching Louis’ attention before the pressure left his lap and Harry was down on his knees. Louis’ pants were down and Harry’s hand was wrapped around him, pumping him firmly.

“Fuck,” Louis gasped, biting his lip. His eyes closed for barely a second, only to open to see Harry looking up at him before grabbing onto both of his thighs, wrapping his mouth over him.

“Fuck, Harry.” He found himself wrapping his hands in the younger boy’s curly hair, grasping them tighter as Harry went down on him further. “That’s—that’s it, yeah.” He was trying not to be vocal; he really was.

Harry was fucking gorgeous and gave great head, and he wasn’t going to deprive himself of that.

“Turn around,” Harry ordered him.

Louis shook his head, bending over to retrieve his trousers from the ground. Harry looked worried at first until Louis pointed his finger in the other direction, mumbling under his breath “…my room.”

The minute they walked in, Louis was hurled into the mattress, Harry being quick to throw himself on top. Their breaths were both uneven, and Louis understood right away how badly they needed this. How badly they needed each other. He felt cool fingers enter him, slowly prepping him.

He began to ask, “Are you sure you’re—”

“I know what I’m doing,” Harry answered confidently, his voice low and rough, not making it any easier for Louis. “Are _you_ okay with this?”

“Mmm,” was all Louis could muster because Harry’s fingers were now coiled deep inside him, and he was fighting the temptation to stroke himself with all this waiting.

“You’re not as tight as I thought.”

Louis let out a low chuckle which was immediately cut off with another moan, as he struggled not to buck his hips. “Harry, can you just—please?”

“Can I what?”

With a roll to his eyes, Louis sighed at Harry’s amusement. “Fuck me already, ugh,” he managed to get out after a couple of tries.

“Yeah, okay. Turn around.”

Louis mumbled protests against the sheets, demanding why Harry wanted him on his back and not on his stomach. He flipped himself around to face Harry, his cheeks flushing a bright pink at the sight. He wasn’t going to lie, Harry looked absolutely alluring and maybe that was simply because he was desperate for him now, but those chestnut, curly locks and those green, green eyes, _fuck—_

“I’m going to go slow, okay?” Harry whispered, shooting him a toothy smile before inserting himself into the other boy. A small whimper escaped Louis as he tried to look away from the amazing boy on top of him.

Harry entered just barely before pulling out completely. Louis groaned impatiently, wishing he would just do it already and stop wasting time. Unlike him, Harry seemed to want to make this last.

Pumping in and out of him firmly, Louis whimpered at the pain, but found it incredibly pleasurable once Harry sit that soft spot. “Fuck yes. Right there, Harry. _Yes._ ” Harry hit it again, causing Louis to melt beneath him. His eyes had lit up after some time, his orbs darkening as his thrusts went deeper and faster. Harry’s hands were lingering Louis’ chest, the sensations filling him becoming impossible to describe.

Harry was hitting his prostate rhythmically now, and _fuck,_ it felt so damn good and Louis never wanted it to come to an end. Strangely enough, Louis had it set to last as long as he could. He held back his moans, trying to keep himself from coming. Not yet, no. He didn’t want it to be over yet.

Once the thrusts had hit an incredible level, it became difficult for Louis to breathe properly. The two were a sweaty mess as they struggled to keep going, and Louis knew he was about ready to reach his peak. This was it; he couldn’t hold it off any longer.

“Gonna come…” he muttered, watching as his load swept up and hit him in the chest. He wasn’t quite through the climax when he heard the sound of a door slamming shut from outside the room.

“Louis?” The voice echoed throughout the house.

“Fuck.” Louis stared at Harry, who was still hovering over him, having yet to pull out. The two watched each other eagerly, still desperate to establish full satisfaction but knew that wasn’t going to happen. “Mum’s home.”

Together, they both scattered the room to pick up their clothes and dress themselves as quickly as he could. Louis felt a sticky substance slipping down his stomach, and mumbled some curse words before rushing to grab a cloth lying on the wooden table beside his bed.

He cleaned himself quickly and sat down next to Harry, pretending to speak to him nonchalantly.

“Louis!” He heard his mum call again.

He stood up, hastily running to the door. Cracking the door open slightly, he hollered, “I’m home, Mum!”

“What happened to the kitchen?” she demanded, looking a little less than frazzled until her eyes found Harry. “Who’s this?”

“My friend, Harry. I’m helping him train for the faceoff,” Louis explained, feeling the sudden need to give her a good impression of Harry.

“Oh, really?” She raised her eyebrows, looking more interested now. She flipped back her wavy, brown locks and watched Harry closely. “Has Louis trained you well? Are you ready?”

“I guess I have to be,” Harry replied casually, adding a laugh in there for good measure. Louis laughed too, wanting to pretend this wasn’t so awkward. Of course, that was saying having his mum walk in on them having sex wasn’t already awkward enough.

“That’s good. I hope so,” she said as Harry nodded his head.

He sighed softly to himself, scratching the back of his neck. “I should probably go.”

“Oh, you’re not going anywhere!” Louis’ mum argued, blocking his only exit. The older boy’s heart went into palpitations, wondering why his mum had reacted that way. “You’re staying for dinner, young man.”

“That sounds really nice, but I wouldn’t want to impose—”

“Nonsense! I’m making macaroni and cheese tonight, Lou’s favorite!” she gushed, grabbing onto her son’s cheeks.

Rolling his eyes as his face was twisting in different ways, he breathed an air of relief. His mum was simply being her over-friendly self. Nothing to worry about.

“Lou’s favorite…” Harry muttered with a snicker once Louis’ mum left the room. “That’s cute.”

Louis rolled his eyes, making his way over to his bed. He only wished he wasn’t still hard.

He sighed in defeat, raising a pair of underpants from underneath the bed. He shoved them at Harry, mumbling to him, “Nice job dressing yourself.”

“How’d they get there?” Harry wondered in astonishment, picking up the piece of clothing he had failed to catch the first time.

“Must have pushed it there.”

But Harry’s attention was elsewhere. He was wandering Louis’ room, watching everything closely. He stopped at his desk, his hands tracing a torn-leather notebook. “What’s this?”

“Nothing.” Louis set his hand over the book.

“It’s not a diary, is it?”

“No. It was my dad’s journal.”

“Oh.”

The Viking continued, leaning his hip against the edge of the desk. “He wrote about a lot of things. Mostly personal things. His goals and motivations. He really wanted to catch a Night Fury, but he never got the chance.”

“That’s why you wanted to so badly,” Harry stated, looking for a sign of approval in Louis’ eyes. “You wanted to be like him?”

“Fuck no.” Louis shook away in disgust. “I wanted to be _better_ than him, do what he could never do.”

“Makes sense.”

“Louis!” His mum called him.

Louis tried not to groan, wishing she would stop interrupting them. “I’ll be back.”

He walked into the kitchen, expecting his mum to scold him for the mess he’d made. However, she was standing at the door, appearing to be speaking to someone. Louis made way to the door, spotting Niall with his head down. He looked a train wreck, to be honest, and a million scenarios were filling Louis’ mind as to how he’d reached this state.

“Hey, Ni.”

Niall nodded his head, stepping into his home.

“It’s good to see you, Niall,” Louis’ mum said with a grin, shutting the door behind them. “Harry’s here too.”

Niall raised an eyebrow, shooting Louis a glare. As they made their way to Louis’ room, Niall wasn’t saying anything other than “Why is Harry here anyway?” and “Stupid fuck” which was quite unusual for him to say.

The minute they made it to Louis’ room, Niall threw himself onto the bed without even taking a second to acknowledge Harry. Louis shrugged at that, sitting down next to his friend. The curly-haired lad was still walking around the room, showing little interest to anything Niall had to say.

Niall went off for a few minutes, swearing every other word, which was typical for him. He was speaking so fast that his accent had thickened, making it difficult to understand. Louis stuck to nodding his head to show he was still listening. Except he wasn’t in the slightest. He was watching Harry intently, engrossing himself in what they hadn’t finished. Louis was contemplating when they could, but their stakes weren’t very likely considering there wasn’t much time between now and the faceoff, and they obviously wouldn’t be alone for a while. Maybe at the victory party, they could sneak out back, go behind the trees—

“And there they were, on top of each other, right in front of my fucking face. They didn’t even know I was there until I cleared my throat and shouted at them to stop. And they did, and—and—”

“Wait, what?” Louis snapped back into focus, alarmed at how quickly the conversation had shifted gears. “Who?”

“Weren’t you listening? God, Liam and Zayn were—Bloody hell, I can’t even say it. It was horrible.” Niall shook his head angrily, clenching his fists tightly and pressing them into the mattress.

“Why didn’t you just join in?” Louis suggested, allowing himself to laugh at his ridiculously amazing sense of humour. But Niall wasn’t even smiling. “I don’t see why it’s a big deal,” he shrugged. “People fuck all the time. It doesn’t mean anything.”

“That was just because Zayn didn’t like you though,” Niall said lightheartedly. “How do you know he doesn’t like Liam, and vice versa?”

“Because I know Zayn. Ever since Mary, he’s been…different.”

“Maybe he changed? Maybe Liam changed him? It’s highly possible, I mean, God, have you seen him? He’s so—and I’m so—and—”

“Niall, breathe.” Louis wrapped an arm over his friend’s shoulder, pulling him toward him. “Just so you know, I’ve slept with him. He’s not that great.”

“Well.” The Irishman sighed sadly. “That certainly makes me feel a lot better…”

Louis averted his eyes to see Harry standing by the window, paying no attention to the two. He’d completely forgotten Harry was here, and he’d been unusually quiet these past few minutes. Why didn’t he try to engage in their conversation? Louis decided he probably didn’t want to get involved, which was wise, actually.

Turning back to the blond, Louis tapped him on the shoulder twice so Niall would get off of him. Once Niall moved himself away properly, Harry’s eyes went straight to Louis. He set down on the edge of the bed, forcing a smile upon his face.

Wait a minute. Was Harry…jealous?

Louis tried not to let his amusement show in his expression, but it was too late. He was already smirking completely out of context. He cleared his throat, still watching Harry. “So, what do _you_ suggest Niall should do about this?”

Harry bit down his lip and tilted his head, as if unsure of who Louis was speaking to. “You could always talk to Liam. Sort things out,” he spoke, but sounded out of it.

“But that’s so fucking awkward!” Niall protested, throwing his head into his hands.

“Why don’t you just tell him how you feel?”

Louis shook his head. “Too risky.” A grin spread across his face at the idea that just now crossed his mind. “I got it! You should make him jealous.”

Niall frowned, tilting his head to meet Louis. “How?”

He shrugged, wondering why he even brought it up. “Just a suggestion.”

“Wait, no, that’s a good idea,” Harry admitted, staring at the ceiling. He crossed his legs Indian-styled, suddenly sitting a little too close to Louis. “What if you came onto Zayn? That’s like double jeopardy.”

Louis thought about it. Not only would Liam be jealous of Niall, he would also be jealous of Zayn. So the plot thickens.

“I guess it’s worth a shot?” Niall sounded unsure of himself.

“Fuck.”

Caught off guard, Louis watched as Harry flew from the bed, rushing to exit the room.

“Harry?” Louis ran after him. Harry was heading to the toilet and Louis was trying to see what was going on with him, but he had closed the door before he could. He could only tap on the door gently, afraid of disturbing him. “You okay in there?”

“Yeah,” came a low voice a moment later. Harry sounded as if he’d just thrown up, or woken up. Not that Louis would know any of which from experience.

“Are you sure?”

Receiving no reply, he leaned his body against the doorframe. He heard the faucet go off followed by the door opening behind him, causing him to fall backwards.

“Oof!” He yelped when he felt two hands catch his armpits, keeping him from falling to the floor. Louis looked up to see Harry staring down at him with a grin plastered on his face. His breath caught in his throat at the sight of Harry smiling, and he forgot where he was.

“Easy there.”

Louis chuckled, peeling his body away from Harry’s. “Oh, Harry. You’ve saved my life once again.”

“Oh good, I’m finally getting a little appreciation here!”

“You sure are,” Louis said, but shook his head as well as the smile he was wearing.

“Louis!” The other male called from the distance. “Whose underpants are these?”

Louis and Harry shared a look of amusement, swallowing their laughter as they returned to their friend. 


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do you do when the one you love is also the enemy? Louis has his goals set on being the best Viking in Berk and all is going well until he meets the mysterious Harry Styles.

_The sun rose from the east, transforming the blueness of the night sky into daytime, setting their journey’s course for the next day. Louis sitting in front with Harry grabbing hold of him from behind, they clung close together as the Night Fury flew them over the beautiful island they had only now discovered. Hovering in the air, Harry’s grip tightened on the other boy’s waist, sending chills throughout his body, a warm sensation with the reassuring thought that such a perfect human being was riding with him, sharing such an experience with him._

_The breeze rolled in, chills crawling to their skin as they flew out into the depths of the ocean, leaving their discovery behind. Hours passed with peaceful silence which neither seemed to mind. Harry’s head against his back put Louis into the best of moods, hearing the gentle swoosh of the rising and falling of Harry’s chest. His heartbeat was a different story, steady and paced, correlating well with Louis’, bringing a sort of unity to them. Quiet and serene was a perfect way to describe this sense of relaxation, and it was enough to put the Viking to sleep as well._

_Hours later and the two were sprawled on a beach, lying side by side, facing each other. Their eyes gazed at each other, and they spoke no words. Their actions interfaced their feelings, a reflection of everything they desired, their longing for each other. Louis was held in Harry’s arms, the gentle stroke of his fingertips grazing his skin making it enough to drive him mad. Murmuring sweet nothing’s into each other’s ears, the scene was almost too painfully real to be considered anything else. Louis wanted nothing more than this moment to last forever, to be with this perfect, perfect boy for as long as he lived. In retrospect, he could have had his way if it weren’t for the shrilling cry from the distance._

_Leaping to his feet, Louis helped the other boy up and they took turns staring at each other, questioning the source of the acrid sound. They scattered the beach, scanning trees and bushes for any animal to be making the sound. Somehow the dragon hadn’t crossed Louis’ mind, and he blamed Harry for becoming the center of his universe, but it became evident that the cry was none other than the Night Fury in pain._

_Its body was sprawled onto the sand, rolling around in misery, begging for death to come. Its bluish-purple scales that had once looked so vibrant and colourful were now dull and limpid, and its bright emerald eyes were opening and closing until they finally shut for good._

_Louis could hear himself trying to yell, trying to do something to make this end, to assure himself and Harry that everything would be okay, that the dragon was okay. He opened his mouth yet again, struggling to get his words out, struggling to shout at the top of his lungs, but it wouldn’t suffice. Louis was trapped in his head, watching his best friend die in front of him. Harry did little to help him, and Louis could only watch as his color went from the beautiful boy he once knew and loved to a dull shade of gray, quickly making his way out of his sight._

_Extending his arms forward, he fell to his knees as he tried to grab the remaining pigments of Harry, attempting to bring him pack piece by piece. His body went flying to the ground, his back arching forward as his head bounced into the sand. His eyesight became clear once pulled himself away from the wooden floor. His forehead pressed together, confusion reeling over at what had used to be a beach. What looked like his home gave him more proof that this was reality, and what he had seen before had only been a dream._

_Harry was hovering over him, helping him off the ground, demanding to know what had happened. But Louis couldn’t say anything. He didn’t dare explain any of it to Harry for it was too terrible to even disclose with him. He couldn’t tell Harry about his death, that he had witnessed it, that it was coming. How could one continue to live with the knowledge of his dreadful fate?_

_The curly-headed boy simply stood there in puzzlement, hurt that his lover wasn’t telling him what he wanted to know. It killed Louis that he couldn’t, his every sense feeling as though he’d betrayed Harry, lied to him, though he had yet to speak._

_“I love you.”_

_Louis hung on to every word, the guilt seeping through him as his thoughts progressed on top of one another, making it impossible to breathe let alone say anything. His eyes were running with tears, the moisture heating up his face in an untimely manner, giving him hardly a second to explain himself._

_He breathed carefully, blinking hard and trying to regain his composure._

_“I killed you.”_

 

Louis jumped out of bed, pulling his covers with him. His body was trembling, his sobs were shaky, and he couldn’t seem to grasp on the fact that he had killed Harry. Granted it was by mistake, he had still done it and there was no going back.

Reality hit him like a brick when he realised a couple of things.  Louis couldn’t have killed him when he’d only seen him hours before, and let’s get real here. There was no way Louis could love someone with such intensity, especially Harry.

His confusion didn’t wear off in the slightest when he went to take a bath. He poured water over himself as he recalled the feeling of Harry’s hands over him, those luscious locks clinging to his skin, those plump lips over his, kissing him passionately and making him feel so high and on top of the world. He groaned loudly, hating that the dream had been so vivid. He preferred dreams the way he preferred sex, vague and meaningless, except that he preferred no dreaming to any dreaming at all. Louis told himself it didn’t mean anything, and that he had simply been tired and had too much on his mind. Of course, there was always the fact that dreams had to do with the subconscious, but Louis never believed that shit. And he certainly wasn’t going to now.

He cleaned his body as he went over the day’s tasks in his head. Louis was to help Harry train, eat lunch, and in between worrying about the faceoff and preparing to disappoint the village, he could always take the dragon for another ride, if he had the time, that was.

Picking up the bar of soap, he began cleaning through his locks, recalling watching the Night Fury die. It had struck a nerve simply thinking about it, and for some reason the dream had really gotten to him. What was the significance of the dragon anyway? He didn’t hate it, and he didn’t want to kill it, and yet there was nothing it could do for Louis except get him into deep trouble.

The Viking focused his mind on the day, pushing the images away. Today he would have to persuade Harry to actually try to do something, so that Louis wouldn’t make a complete fool of himself at the faceoff. In a way, it just wasn’t fair that Harry had this opportunity thrown out at him when Louis had worked hard for it and never even made it. Sure, that was in the past and all, but it still bothered him.

By now, Louis had learned that Harry’s reasons for not wanting to kill dragons were bullshit. How Louis knew that was obvious. Anybody was qualified for murder when the situation demanded it, and with that knowledge, Harry should be perfectly fine with it. So with Louis’ collection of observations, Harry had lied.

Then what was the real reason Harry wouldn’t kill dragons?

~

“Yeah, yeah. I will!” Niall called out after slamming the door shut. Heaving a breathy sigh, he straightened out his shirt before running through the path that led to the streets. He ran a hand through his hair, making sure it was in best condition. If he was going to talk to Zayn, he was going to do it right.

He was well aware of his intentions, though he was still pondering on the fact that he was following Louis’ suggestions and taking him up on his idea. Niall had nothing to lose anyway, considering he’d lost the boy he might very well be in love with.

Clenching his fists, he tried to forget the images already flying in his mind. Liam on top of Zayn. Kissing. Licking. Moaning. Hands everywhere. Shaky breaths. The movement of their bodies.

Niall hated to have witnessed that, absolutely hated it. It might as well be considered the worst day of his life, and he was doomed to remember it as long as lived. It was enough he had to watch Liam leave him for Danielle, to check up on her, which wasn’t a big deal compared to this. Unless Liam considered sleeping with his best friend “checking up on him,” Niall had every right to freak out.

He practically searched the entire island with no sign of Zayn. Niall figured he was still sleeping, and that was a reassuring thought since he wasn’t totally up to speaking to him after yesterday. It was awkward enough to have witnessed it; he didn’t exactly want to see either of their faces right now.

With that decision, he began the long walk home, ignoring his racing thoughts. He counted his steps, trying to focus on something else. Niall thought about the meat he bought the other day, and pondered on how excited he was to cook it. He became incredibly hungry and his stomach was growling, but at least he had something else to think about. Something other than the perfect boy with the chocolate brown eyes and soft luscious hair to match.

Niall didn’t realise they were both staring at each other until he did. Liam was working with knives, pouring them into a metal forge, pulling them out with a cheeky grin on his face. Waving at Niall while doing so, the Irishman couldn’t stop himself from waving back. Liam was gesturing him to come forth and, of course, Niall couldn’t resist.

“There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you,” Liam admitted, dropping the blades onto the table.

Niall raised an eyebrow. “You have?”

“Who else is gonna help me unpack these tools?”

Niall smiled at that, bending over to retrieve the box of materials lying on the floor beside the working table. He tossed them onto the table, sighing deeply and trying not to make any eye contact with the other boy.

“I think I’ve taken care of all the knives, so that just leaves us the tongs to sort through,” Liam explained, Niall nodding with reluctance. As much as he loved helping his best mate with his work, this was the last place he wanted to be.

The room suddenly went silent, only the sounds of the two boys slamming material after material onto the shady table, making no sort of connection with each other. Niall could only work and pray that Liam wouldn’t bring up anything to justify his feelings for Zayn and make him feel a million times worse. At the same time, he was angry. Wasn’t Liam going to say anything? Liam wasn’t the type to let things go so easily, especially not something like this. It was absolutely astonishing and unbelievable that Liam wasn’t even going to apologise. Crush or not, it was awkward for anyone to witness.

They both worked hard, muttering a few words here and there strictly speaking of what they were trying to get accomplished. Instead of speaking out and tossing jokes every now and then like Niall usually did, he kept his mouth shut.

Working for about thirty minutes straight seemed to go by a lot faster that Niall had expected. They were through the tongs and were busy rearranging the bow and arrows onto the wall behind them. Liam couldn’t reach the top and neither could Niall, and to his expense, Niall found himself on his knees, groaning when he felt the other boy on top of him.

“Almost got it!” Liam assured him, grunting as the pressure grew on the poor Irishman’s back.

“You’re so fucking heavy,” Niall panted out. “Hurry the fuck up, my spine is going to dislocate itself.”

“For your information, your spine can’t dislocate itself. More like break and paralyse you completely, yes, but—”

“Oh, shut it. No need to be such a smart arse.”

“Very funny,” the other boy said, chuckling. “Could you hand me a screw?”

“I’m a little busy—”

“Right, sorry! Okay, I’m coming down,” Liam finally announced, Niall’s back about ready to snap at this point. Somehow Liam made it down successfully without causing him too much pain.

Niall patted his clothing, glowering darkly at his best mate. The pain didn’t last long, however, and it wasn’t too long later that he found himself simply smiling at his presence. Liam was paying no attention to him as he moved to the other side of the shop to grab some materials. Niall stayed put, examining everything closely to make sure they’d done everything right.

Two voices were coming from outside, which Niall could distinctively determine as two older Vikings. As they neared the shop, it was safe to assume it was Gobber and Stoick stopping by for investigation.

“I just don’t know what we’re gonna do,” he heard Stoick say with a loud sigh.

“We’ll find something. We always do.”

“Not this time. This time is different.”

“That’s what you said last time.”

“And the time after that, and the time after that. I know.” Stoick didn’t sound as angry as his words. More disappointed, really.

Liam returned from the back, brushing his shoulder slightly against Niall’s to show that he had returned. Niall was listening in on the Vikings’ conversation, and it became evident that Liam had joined in as well.

“We’re just not safe anymore,” Stoick stated. “They’re eventually going to get us all. Face it, we can’t stop them.”

“Don’t say that! You’re the one who promised you would fix everything once and for all. You’re the one who told me to never give up, even when things get rough. Why don’t you follow your own advice on this and think more on this before you just come to a decision?” Gobber negotiated, speaking an awful lot more than what Niall was used to hearing.

“But where else do we look? We’ve searched everywhere! If they even have a nest at all, we would’ve found it by now. We’re not stupid, Gobber, but neither are these creatures. They’ve got a plan, I know it. They’re hiding, and they’re certainly doing a good job with it.”

It was Liam’s turn to jump in the conversation. “You haven’t searched everywhere.”

Three pairs of eyes set on him, Niall stared at him with the biggest surprise. Liam almost never spoke up on behalf of the village’s problems, especially not directly to the chief himself.

Liam stared back at them until they all acknowledged him completely. “You’ve searched all of Berk’s coves and the surrounding area. Well, what if the nest is further than that?”

“I certainly doubt that. Dragons would have to fly rather quickly to leave their nest and come back. And even if the nest was somewhere else, we can’t afford the time or effort to look,” Stoick argued, sounding very sure of himself.

“It couldn’t hurt to try.”

The chief sighed. “I appreciate that you’re trying to help, I really do. But the future of the village isn’t up to you. You’re only the masonry, and still have much to learn.”

Liam clearly wasn’t giving up easily. “But I really think that if we—”

“Just…stay out of it.” The chief shook a hand in their faces as he gestured to his accomplice to walk away.

The second they left, Liam muttered under his breath, “Fucking Vikings.”

Niall nearly fell backwards. “Did you just swear?”

“What?” Liam looked just as surprised as he did. “Did I?”

Niall smirked, casually draping his arm over his mate’s shoulder. “I don’t believe it. Liam Payne just said a naughty word. God, I’m going to treasure this moment forever.”

“They’re so clueless though,” he continued, fixing his eyes on the remaining tools. “If they only knew where to look, then maybe they’d have a chance of finding it. But that’s all rubbish since middlemen are incapable of helping, apparently.”

“At least you tried.”

Liam shrugged, playing with one of the instruments in his hand. He let it drop as he turned to face Niall. “I’m really sorry about yesterday. It must have been really awkward.”

Niall wasn’t sure how he felt about this. After that heated conversation, he’d somehow forgotten all about it, and now that it had been brought up, he wasn’t sure whether to feel relieved that Liam was apologising, or remorseful that he was forced to remember it again.

“It’s okay,” he found himself saying, holding himself back from what he really wanted to say.

_No, it’s not okay. I like you. No, that’s an understatement. I think I’m madly in love with you and that’s the biggest problem of my life. You can’t even begin to imagine how bloody awful I felt standing there while you got it on with Zayn. It made me feel unimportant, forgotten, unloved. Not that there’s a slight chance you even understand how I feel. Do you even understand how much it tore me apart to see you with him? Of course not. You probably don’t care either._

So he kept his mouth shut after that, pretending his mind wasn’t wreaking havoc, and that he didn’t feel like he was dying on the inside. He simply continued to work, ignoring the awkward silence that had resurfaced between them.

Liam was reaching over Niall to grab something, dropping his arm onto his shoulders instantaneously. Every part of Niall’s body was on fire, and his cheeks were blushing a furious red. But even then, Niall was still able to keep calm and remain professional.

~

“Yeah!” Louis burst out as they soared through the sky. He felt on top of the world, his ordinary day turning into something extraordinary. He knew he was riding a dragon, but even at that, he always seemed to forget that it was real once he returned home where everything was boring. It was so unbelievably different. When he came out here, he was in a whole new world, everything he experienced beyond anything he’d ever imagined.

They passed through the tops of the trees, as Louis patted the dragon’s back gently, steadying them before they came to a safe landing in the cove. Laughing and completely at ease, the Viking shrugged himself off of the Night Fury, nearly tripping over the side of the harness.

He patted the dragon on its back before fixing his trousers. They always seemed to sag every single time, and it annoyed Louis to no end. Breathing deeply, he headed over to the lake to splash some water on his face. He was incredibly sweaty, his hair flying everywhere, but he was in a fairly good mood.

Louis made a noise of approval as the cool water hit his face, cooling him down slowly but surely. He let his knees sink to the ground as he sat there, thinking everything through. He still wasn’t over his dream, and maybe riding the dragon hadn’t helped with forgetting about it.

The sound of the Night Fury crying out in pain caused Louis to jump to his feet. At first he could only relate this to his dream, until he turned around to see the dragon about to claw Zayn’s eyes out.

“No! Stop!” Louis ran quickly, stepping in between the Night Fury and his friend. It seemed to calm down since it wasn’t trying to kill Zayn anymore, but it was still glaring at him darkly. “He’s my friend!”

Its expression didn’t falter, but it still refrained from causing any violence.

Zayn gasped loudly, staying in his place on the ground. The terrified look on his face didn’t last long because now he was staring at Louis blankly. “I knew I’d find you here.”

Louis’ breath caught in his throat. But _how_ did he find him? This place was hidden, somewhere that could only be found if one had gone deep into the woods. Why was Zayn strolling through the woods in the first place?

“What’s wrong, Louis? You didn’t want to tell me that _the vicious, bloodthirsty dragon slayer Louis Tomlinson_ has a soft side for dragons?”

He couldn’t find the words to say, and he was still in absolute shock. Zayn made a face, crossing his arms impatiently. 

Louis gulped. “It’s not what it looks like—” He started to say but decided that was too clichéd of a phrase. “Please—you have to swear you won’t tell anyone.”

“Why makes you think I will? You betrayed everyone. Do you understand how upset Stoick would be if he knew? The best fighter in all of Berk left the civilians for a fucking dragon.” The dark-haired male shook his head, smiling grimly. “That’s a fucking classic. Just how long did you think you could hide your little secret?”

“I couldn’t just kill him!”

“Him?” Zayn raised an eyebrow. “Now you’re thinking of it as more than an animal? Maybe you know more than I thought.”

Louis frowned, “Know about what? What are you talking about?”

“Have you ever questioned the dragon’s true identity?”

Louis’ frown deepened. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Zayn circled around him courageously, though the Night Fury was continuing to glare at him threateningly. The dark-haired male crossed his arms, eyeing Louis carefully. “You know how dragons are basically human, right? They have feelings and everything.’

“What are you getting at?” And why was Zayn sounding so apathetic all of a sudden?

“How much more obvious can I possibly be?” He grumbled to himself, groaning. “Don’t you see it? The green eyes? The playful yet hostile attitude?” Louis was still confused out of his mind.

He groaned again, grabbing Louis by the shoulders. “For crying out loud, Louis! Harry is the dragon!”

The dragon growled again after that last sentence, startling Louis a tad. He looked back at Zayn, raising an eyebrow, his lips forming a smirk. “Are you high?”

“I’m not lying.”

The older Viking scoffed, “And I’m not gay.”

“Fine. Don’t believe me.”

Louis chuckled without humor. Why was Zayn trying so hard?  “I can’t believe you’re still glued on this. It’s already funny enough that you would tell me something that ridiculous, but expecting me to take you seriously? Are you _sure_ you’re not high?”

Zayn watched him sadly. “I’m one-hundred percent serious, Lou.”

Louis rolled his eyes, pressing his palm into his forehead. “Are you really? Do you know how dumb you sound? How could Harry be a dragon anyway? Is he some kind of half-human half-dragon hybrid? A shape-shifter?” He shook his head. “This is just ridiculous.”

“I knew you wouldn’t believe me. I don’t know why I even bothered.”

“Maybe next time you shouldn’t spy on your best mate.”

“Really? Best mate? Are you sure about that?” Zayn retorted. “Best mates don’t keep things from each other.” Zayn kept talking, but his voice gave no indication to his mood. It was hard to tell how he was feeling nowadays. “That’s why I decided to tell you. So you wouldn’t find out on your own and run off and make Harry feel even worse.”

Louis watched him leave, staring blankly ahead. He didn’t know what to believe. Zayn had really sounded upset back there, but that didn’t mean he knew what he was saying. When did he, though?

He climbed back on the Night Fury, allowing Zayn’s words to haunt his mind. 


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do you do when the one you love is also the enemy? Louis has his goals set on being the best Viking in Berk and all is going well until he meets the mysterious Harry Styles.

Try as he might, Louis couldn’t find in him to look at Harry the next day in Dragon Training. That might have been an exaggeration since the Viking was watching him closely, maybe even a bit _too_ closely, but Louis was honestly in revelation over yesterday’s events.

Dinner had been catastrophic. Strangely enough, Harry had failed to show up, leaving him alone for his friends’ expense. Louis had sat still, sipping his soup while he tried to ignore every comment his friends made.

“Why are you always hanging out with Harry?”

“Yeah, are you fucking or something?”

“You totally fancy him!”

“He’s not saying anything! That means it’s true!”

“It’s _so_ obvious!”

With a roll to his eyes, Louis continued to eat, driving himself mad with the words blaring in his ears. His friends were only fooling with him, even he knew that, and yet, Louis was actually, for the first time, thinking over their words and considering the slightest possibility that they might be onto something. It wouldn’t be the first time Louis was in denial about something.

Finally, he found the strength to stand up, getting tired of the comments. He pushed his chair under the table, causing it to shake slightly, definitely grasping the attention of the other boys. From the corner of his eye, Eleanor was watching him sadly, but held a hand over her mouth to cover the laughter that even she couldn’t hide.

“Aw, Lou! Lighten up!” Niall exclaimed with enchantment.

“Yeah, let love into your heart!” Liam tapped a hand against his chest, swooning.

Louis managed to roll his eyes. “Get whatever ideas you have out of your heads. There’s nothing going on with me and Harry, and I shouldn’t have to deal with your unnecessary remarks.”

“Does this mean you haven’t fucked him?” Niall asked out of the blue, sounding a little sad.

Louis was awestruck, his mouth gaping slightly at his friend, but he managed to shrug it off without showing the truth in his body language. “No—I mean, yes. I think.”

Niall raised an eyebrow, confused as well.

“So what?” Louis shrugged, finding it pointless to continue the charade. “It doesn’t mean anything.”

Liam smirked, leaning his elbow against the wood. “So you have.”

Louis threw his hands on the table, leaning further to hover over his friends. “ _It doesn’t mean anything.”_

Niall watched him with amusement, crossing his arms. He cupped a hand over Liam’s ear, muttering loud enough for the others to hear, “That’s a lie and he knows it.”

Louis stormed off after that, after shaking his head disapprovingly and shooting Niall a menacing glare. After everything he’d done for the Irishman, he went ahead and embarrassed him in front of all his peers. Louis didn’t even _like_ Harry, at least not like that. He had to admit though. The boy was growing on him quite strongly, but it was really more of a friendship with occasional benefits. Nothing more than that.

That wasn’t all that passed through his mind the next morning. He hadn’t forgotten the anti-climactic scene with his best mate. Louis tried to find meaning behind the ridicule of Zayn’s words, trying to process information together to make some sense. However, he couldn’t seem to find any and found it all bothersome and a waste of his time. Zayn had acted so boldly and taken such offense when Louis hadn’t believed him, it almost had Louis convinced he was telling the truth, if the “truth” wasn’t so absurd.

As he watched Harry bend over to sort through the weapons and make his choice—and no, he was most certainly _not_ admiring the view from behind—, he could only think of one thing.

The evidence.

Now if he was even going to consider Zayn’s proclamation, he had to find some fact in the matter. The green eyes were the dead giveaway. He remembered everything he’d been told, that Harry’s “hostile yet playful attitude” resembled that of the dragon’s. He wouldn’t argue with that. The dragon _did_ share numerous characteristics with Harry, but that didn’t immediately target it as _being_ Harry. Louis wasn’t stupid enough to believe that.

But it was uncanny and almost funny in a way that Harry had never seen the dragon and every time Louis had attempted to introduce them to one another, one of them was always missing. Thinking back on the past occurrences, that had always been the case and maybe it was more than a coincidence. And now that he really thought about it, it could very well be the reason why Harry wouldn’t kill dragons.

Louis had to take a step back.

What was he thinking? Was he actually considering that Harry, _the_ Harry Styles, was the Night Fury? Preposterous. Louis shook his head at the thought, mentally stabbing himself repeatedly in the chest for even thinking that.

But why had Zayn been so defensive?

He shook away his thoughts, noticing he’d been staring at the curly-haired lad that entire time. Louis managed to get his thoughts organized long enough to realise that Harry was staring back at him, a light shade of scarlet covering his cheeks.

“Are you going to stare at me all day or are we going to get stuff done?”

“R-right,” Louis snapped himself into focus, stepping forward to help Harry with his posture with the knife. “You’ve used one of these before, right?” He sighed loudly when Harry wouldn’t answer. “Right?”

“Louis, do you even want to be here?”

The Viking gave him a blank look, gazing deeply into his emerald orbs. They _were_ very similar... Shoot, Harry was still talking to him. “Yes.”

“Okay, because I don’t want you to feel like you _have_ to do this,” Harry said, dropping his gaze to the floor. “This is already going to suck, and I’d hate to bring you down with me.”

Louis didn’t think before responding, and he didn’t question himself until after he spoke. “I’m glad to help you in any way I can. Yeah, this is going to suck. Everyone’s probably going to hate me. But what have I got to lose? My pride?”

Harry smiled at that, loosening his grip on the blade. “That’s...very generous of you.” He turned his focus to the Viking again, the dimples showing through his smile. “Thank you, Lou.”

Louis couldn’t help but grin at that, a warm feeling surging through his veins, different than the usual sensations that filled him when he was around Harry’s presence. He pressed his lips together in a thin line and set one hand over the other boy’s blade. “You’re holding it wrong.”

“You’re fucking me,” Harry said, groaning. “There can’t possibly be only one proper way to hold a knife.”

“ _Actually,_ there is. It’s called _my way_.”

The curly-haired lad shook his head at that. “Cocky bastard.”

“Nothing new.” Louis relaxed his hold over Harry’s hand before adjusting it properly. “Now I know you won’t test it, but promise me you’ll at least _try_ tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yeah, tomorrow,” the Viking said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Tomorrow’s the faceoff. You know, that thing we’ve been preparing for since day one.”

“I know, I know.” Harry dropped the knife to his side, an unidentifiable expression on his face. “I just didn’t think it’d come so soon.”

“Time flies, I understand. Now come on,” he said, patting Harry on the shoulder, “we need to get you finalised.”

Harry surprisingly obliged, following Louis’ orders perfectly. Louis should have been suspicious of the change, that maybe there was a reason behind Harry acting this way. Then again, Louis owed him nothing and was only helping him for tomorrow. Obviously, Harry wasn’t going to resist the help when he clearly needed it.

Time elapsed and soon the two were heading down to the town’s center, ready to scarf down whatever was prepared for lunch. Zayn and Liam were sitting at their own table, appearing to be discussing something important. With that consideration in mind, Louis and Harry sat together at an empty table until Niall showed up a little later.

“What are we even eating?” Liam questioned, holding the piece of meat up to the other male’s face. “It looks like meat, but I’m not entirely sure.”

Zayn shrugged, opening his mouth to munch on the side of it. “At least it’s edible. I’m sure Niall doesn’t mind.”

The brunet peered over to where the blonde-haired lad sat, conversing with their other two friends. He was laughing loudly enough to hear from the other side of the room and as cheery as he sounded, it did nothing to keep Liam from remembering and regretting the mistake he’d made.

“Liam?”

Liam sighed, turning himself to face Zayn again, who seemed eager for his attention. “Sorry. I’m still upset.”

Zayn tossed the piece of meat to the side, a disgusted look on his face. “I’m sure Niall’s over it now. He doesn’t _look_ upset.”

He shook his head, darting his eyes down to his untouched food. “That’s Niall for you. No matter how upset he is, no matter how much pain he’s feeling, he’ll always hide it.” It’s not always a good thing either. One day that boy was going to break.

“Have you tried talking to him?”

“I apologised the other day, but I don’t think that said it all,” Liam explained, watching Zayn closely. “But how could he forgive me after that? He walked in on us, Zayn. I wouldn’t be surprised if he hates me.”

The black-haired male was staring ahead with no regards to paying attention to Liam’s ranting. His bored stance made Liam furious and slightly irritated. It hurt him to think that one of his best mates wasn’t there for him when he needed him the most.

“And you’re obviously have better things to think about, so I’d better stop boring you,” Liam said blatantly, slumping down in his seat and crossing his arms annoyingly.  

“Sorry,” Zayn finally said, watching him with apologetic eyes. “I just have a lot on my mind.”

“Me too.”

“Have you ever considered telling him how you feel?”

“No,” Liam replied quickly. “Are you kidding? That would ruin everything.”

“How?”

“How?” he repeated, glancing back at Niall every few seconds. “I would only embarrass myself and make this look worse than it is. Besides, he doesn’t even like me like that.”

“Liam.”

“I’m serious, Zayn. We’re best mates. If I tell him how I feel, that could ruin our friendship.”

“I doubt that. You’ve been friends forever. Nothing can get in the way of that, especially not this,” Zayn assured him, resting a hand on the table. “The worst that can happen is getting rejected.”

Liam scoffed, playing an out-of-context smile on his lips. “That’s real assuring.”

“Talk to him,” he insisted. “Can you at least do that?”

Liam sighed breathlessly, peeking over at Niall again. “I guess it couldn’t hurt.” He looked back at Zayn one final time before standing up to walk over to his other friends. He cleared his throat awkwardly at sat down next to Niall, who was smiling widely at him.

“Hey, Liam! We were just talking about you!” he exclaimed, rolling an arm over his shoulder.

“You were?”

“Yeah,” Niall admitted, giggling. “About how you tried to prank me, when was it? Two years ago? Good times.”

“Good times? It completely backfired, how is that good at all?” Liam reminded him.

“Oh, cool it, Liam. Sometimes you can be such a pain,” he retorted, laughing at his own joke. “Did you see what I—”

“Yes, I saw what you did there.” Liam couldn’t help but smile, as cheesy as that was. “Um, any chance I could talk to you?” He paused, looking over Harry and Louis before dropping the hint. “Privately.”

“Of course. I actually wanted to ask you something.”

“Really?” At this point, Louis and Harry had left, leaving them to talk.

“Yeah, but you can go first.”

“No, you.”

“Okay,” the blond-haired lad gave in. “So you know how the faceoff is tomorrow, right? Well, I was wondering if you maybe—if you wanted to, I mean,” Niall smiled bashfully at him, rubbing the back of his neck, “go with me, maybe?”

“Aren’t we already going?” Liam wondered why Niall was acting so shy about it. They always attended events together. What made this one in particular any different?

“Well, _yeah,_ but I was thinking more as, um,” he paused, his eyes dropping to the floor.

“More as a date?” Liam finished for him.

“Well, yeah...”

“Then yes.”

“You mean, you’re okay with it?” Niall frowned, as if the idea of a date was the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard.

Trying his best not to grin like an idiot, he nodded sheepishly. “Yeah.”

“Okay,” the other male said after a moment of silence. “So what did you want to tell me?”

“Oh. Just that your hair looks nice today.”

“Thanks.” Niall laughed, exposing his white glossy teeth. Liam laughed too, pretending that he wasn’t tempted to reach over and press his tongue into those enamel-coated pearly whites.

~

The skies were darkening, the beautiful sunset falling into darkness, and Louis was in the best of moods. He was flying around the area like he usually did, smiling to himself and patting the Night Fury encouragingly to keep going. Louis had never been out this late before, and he began to understand why.

He was never afraid of the dark, but once he put together his fear his heights and paranoia in general, flying at night was kind of a scary experience. For some reason, though, Louis wasn’t deeply troubled by it. Instead, he was enjoying himself, eager to have gotten away from Berk for the last time. Everything would go to shit tomorrow, and he was happy to spend his last bit of freedom doing what he always wanted to do: fly.

Louis steadied himself on the harness, ready to shift them back to land. He was getting quite tired, and after having spent most of his day training Harry, he was desperate for sleep. He would need it for tomorrow.

He prepared himself to adjust the prosthetic to turn them around, but the dragon had other plans. They were flying faster than usual, and Louis had to hold on for dear life.

“What’s going on?” Louis demanded, observing that they were heading further and further away from the island. He closed his eyes, which had become watery from the breeze flying his way.

He propped one eye open long enough to see that they were surrounded by countless dragons, who all seemed to be carrying something in their mouths. Louis looked closely and saw that it was all some sort of food. The food they stole from the Vikings! What did they intend to do with it?

He frowned, staring forward at the bundle of rocks they were heading into. They were going impossibly fast that he was starting to get a little cold and dizzy, but the Night Fury didn’t intend on stopping anytime soon.

They rushed against the wind, more dragons making their way around them, confusing Louis even more. Were they all heading to the same place? And if so, _where?_

As the fog cleared up and they grew closer to their destination, Louis observed a large mountain, more like a rock actually, entering their view. The dragons all spread out, entering the cave quickly and efficiently. As the Night Fury flew him inside, Louis could only think of one thing.

The nest.

It was beyond anything Louis had ever seen. The walls reflected the glow of the bright red light below, which could only be indicated as some form of lava. Was this a volcano?

Sharp, pointed rocks filled his view as the Night Fury landed behind a large boulder. Louis’ eyes darted to the red fog where a creature headed towards, dropping a fish from its mouth. It was starting to fly away, but it wasn’t quick enough; something had grabbed it, pulling it down.

Louis’ eyes widened when he saw the creature emerging from below. He could only describe it as a dragon, the biggest and most ferocious thing he’d ever seen in his life. Its eyes were about the size of the Night Fury, and that was about all the time Louis had to observe it. The creature then seemed to become aware that there was a human here and began to rise up further.

The Night Fury and Louis were out of there in seconds, Louis’ heart racing at an incredible pace. He was gasping for air, inhaling and exhaling again and again to keep himself from hyperventilating.

What _was_ that?

He shook his head, the images playing around in his mind. If that was the nest, was that dragon like the queen bee? Did it control the other dragons?

As the Night Fury brought them down to land, it hit him like a brick.

The dragons brought their queen the food. They had to do that in order to survive.

That was why they stole food.

Not for themselves.

For their master.

He slowly brought his leg over to fall to the sand. They were on the coast of Berk, and it was quite beautiful with the pale moonlight lighting up the beach. Louis stretched his limbs, putting everything he knew together piece by piece.

He began to take off in another direction to lean against a tree and calm his nerves. He stopped for a second, staring at the ground. “I get it now.”

“It’s about time,” another voice said.

“Harry?” Louis flipped himself around to face the source of the voice, having to stare at him for more than several seconds to see that it was really him. “What are you doing here?” he said frantically, scrutinizing his face in confusion. He didn’t leave Harry time to answer and fired question after question at him.

“How did you find me?”

“How did you get here so quickly?”

“Where’s the Night Fury?”

“Calm down,” Harry finally spoke, reaching over to rest his hand over Louis’ shoulder delicately. “I shouldn’t have to explain, I thought I’d be quite obvious.”

“You—” Louis began, frowning as he tried to contemplate the situation carefully. His eyes widened when the idea hit him. “You’re...you...”

He paused, his frown transforming into a blank look.

Zayn was right.

“You’re the Night Fury.”

Harry didn’t respond right away.

Taking that as a yes, Louis backed away slowly, all of this becoming too much to swallow. He was reminded that all those times he spent with the dragon, he’d also spent with Harry. And all those times he spent with Harry, he’d also spent with the dragon.

It all made sense now.

Louis continued to back away, tears starting to form in his eyes. He turned to his left, ready to run off to God knows where, when a hand clung onto his.

“Louis, wait! I can explain.”

“It’s going to take quite an explanation,” Louis stammered, his voice barely audible. “This is…insane.”

“I know. I was going to tell you.”

“You lied to me. Why didn’t you tell me? You told Zayn. Why not me?”

“He wasn’t supposed to know. Nobody was.” Harry sighed, his eyes downcast. “It’s complicated...”

“Well, I know now.” Louis shrugged, dropping his body onto the sand where Harry followed him in his endeavor. He opened his mouth to speak, trying to sound rational even with the ridicule of his words. “How did you get...I mean, why—I mean, you’re some sort of shape shifter, right? How does that work?”

“It’s a long story...” Harry trailed off, but noticed the impatient expression Louis wore that signaled he wasn’t going anywhere until he knew everything. “It was a year ago when it happened. There was this lady—I was at this carnival, it was an annual thing and I wanted to get my fortune read, you know, just for fun. She was saying these really weird things to me, I can’t even remember what she said; it was like…a spell. She gave me something to drink, which at the time I didn’t realise was an elixir. I wasn’t smart enough to know not to trust people with drinks either.

“Anyway, later that night when I woke up, my house was completely torn apart, like everything had been set on fire.” Harry fumbled with his fingers, giving Louis eye contact for the first time. “Well, it turns out _I_ did that, back when I couldn’t control myself. I couldn’t find my parents anywhere. I still haven’t seen them to this day. I ran after that, I didn’t look back.

“And then one day, I heard it. This loud buzzing sound in my ears, and I couldn’t ignore it. The more I tried, the worse it got. I didn’t know where it was coming from or why, but then I noticed a pattern. It would happen every time I would try to eat or search for food. It was almost like someone was warning me.”

“Warning you?” Louis raised an eyebrow.

Harry nodded. “It was like a signal, someone telling me I’m better off without eating. That lasted for a while. I started sailing here after that, and that’s when I started hearing things. Voices. I was confused for the longest time, but it was like everything became clear to me once I stepped foot in Berk. I found the nest first, and then the dragons. I wasn’t the only one. Can you imagine how relieving that was for me? I finally found somewhere I belonged.

“But there was something else. That creature, it’s like…our leader. I learned that just because I was some creature that I could never imagine ever existing, none of that made my life infinitely better. I was still just a toy in a shed, deliberately made only to make someone else happy.” Harry looked back down, his expression more relaxed. “So I ran off. I settled down here and I’ve been here ever since.”

So Harry didn’t follow the leader’s orders. That explained why the Night Fury never stole anything...

“Where do you stay?”

Harry’s face perked up. “What?”

“Where do you live?”

Harry frowned. “Out of all the things you could ask me, you choose that?”

“Yes,” Louis answered without any hesitation. For some reason, Harry’s safety was the first priority.

“I told you before, I was adopted.”

“Okay.” He let his eyes wander around the scenery until they made contact with Harry’s emerald orbs. “Why did you enroll yourself into Dragon Training then?”

“I didn’t. Gobber did. Since I’m one of the teenagers, he decided I needed to train too. And I couldn’t just say no, what kind of Viking does that?”

“So you were forced into it then,” he confirmed, nodding in understanding. “So all those times we spent together,” Louis began, reminiscing the memories in his mind. “It was all you. The flying, the bonding...” Harry nodded his head after every phrase. “Everything.”

It was almost funny how every time Louis had tried to show the dragon to Harry, but it wasn’t ever there. Or the days when Louis would skip Dragon Training to spend time with the dragon, only to find that it wasn’t there. Or how every time Harry was pissed at him, the dragon seemed to side with him too. Harry had even opened up to him just as the dragon had.

It was so hard to believe that the dragon and Harry weren’t two separate entities, but the same person. Even after hearing it firsthand and hearing the whole story from Harry himself, it just wouldn’t sink into Louis’ brain. He couldn’t swallow it completely.

They had spent every minute of every day together.

“This is a lot to take in, I know that,” Harry read his mind. “I’m really sorry you had to hear it from Zayn. And I understand if you don’t want to see me anymore. I have to get out of here anyway.”

“It’s just... I can’t believe it happened to you,” Louis attempted to express how he was feeling. “It’s so unfair how your life was stolen from you. It wasn’t even something you could control.” Harry was staring at him with concern. “And it’s not fair that I can’t relate to you at all. I wish I could help you.”

“You’ve helped me a lot, Louis.” Harry moved closer, resting a hand over his knee. “More than you can imagine. But there are just some things nobody can help with. This is who I am, and I can’t change that.”

Louis nodded in acceptance. He found it amazing, almost attractive, how even after all that’s happened to him, Harry still had his pride. He still liked himself, despite the fact it wasn’t human. And not once did he ever dwell on that.

“What are you going to do tomorrow?”

He expected Harry to shoot back a confident, reassured reply like he usually did. But Harry actually looked nervous and a little scared. “I actually haven’t thought that through... Don’t worry, I’ll think of something.”

Louis wasn’t assured in the slightest. Inside, he could only worry about Harry and the shit he would go through tomorrow when the village discovered he wouldn’t kill dragons.

He wasn’t sure what had it in him to lean over and peck Harry softly on the lips. There was a whoosh in his chest when he pulled away, and the two made the shortest eye contact. Silence filled the air after that, leaving Louis to reflect on his thoughts.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do you do when the one you love is also the enemy? Louis has his goals set on being the best Viking in Berk and all is going well until he meets the mysterious Harry Styles.

_I don’t deserve this. I’m better than this. I should have won. I shouldn’t be sitting here feeling sorry for myself. I shouldn’t have to watch the love of my life fight the dragon when it should have been me. That position was rightfully mine, and he took it. Just like how he took my innocence. My everything. It isn’t fair._

The events that were locked in his memories had only occurred weeks prior, not enough time to prepare for further disappointment.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“You? A homosexual?”

“You’re not a Viking.”

“You’re not my son.”

Disowned and abandoned brought upon a harbinger of tragedy for the eighteen-year-old, but it was only bound to worsen.

The ruffled brown locks cascaded his view, lustful images forming in his mind. Hands grazed together, quivering lips mumbling words of promise and longing as they pressed together, sinning and sinning over and over again with no regrets. They screamed each other’s names, locked eyes for eternity, and savored every second they had.

Morning came, but he was gone. He left, just like that. No explanation, no goodbyes.

It wasn’t a few days later that he was fed a bullshit excuse and was left to string his heart back together piece by piece.

It wasn’t fair.

Little did the Viking know it wouldn’t be the last time their paths would cross.

Dragon Training started and confidence was uprising, for once his father’s words left behind him, and he knew he was born for this; he was ready.

But fate had other plans.

He didn’t make it.

Someone else did.

Specifically the one who had wronged him.

It wasn’t fair.

He attended the event nonetheless with nobody by his side. Poise and independent, there was a wave of accomplishment shooting through him, which quickly dissolved as he watched the love of his life brace himself into battle.

It was a long shot, and he barely made it out alive, but it was enough to kill the creature and send the audience into thunderous applause.

The eighteen-year-old watching in the audience pondered on the fact that his tormenter had been lucky; one more move and he would have been roasted alive.

But Louis wasn’t that lucky.

It wasn’t fair.

Louis had grown since then, but the memories still haunted him. He was constantly reminded of his past failures every time he made a mistake, as if he wouldn’t allow himself any failure in order to make up for the success he deserved.

Louis wasn’t just dwelling simply because he was tired of the happenings in his life.

Maybe it had something to do with the fact that today was the faceoff. The day he would fix things once and for all.

Harry was being surprisingly cooperative, allowing Louis to send ideas into his brain and telling him that he was capable of anything and with a little bit of hope, he would make it through the day.

Every time Harry would argue, Louis wouldn’t fret. He didn’t want to cause any more stress for the both of them; instead, he watched from afar and hoped for the best that Harry knew what he was doing.

Louis wanted to grab a bite after Dragon Training since the anxiety was rushing through him _already,_ and he really needed to eat something before he completely lost his sanity.

He was out of the door in seconds until an arm caught him.

“Wait, I have to show you something.”

And just like that, they were off.

Riding Harry was a bit strange at first (no sexual innuendo intended), but Louis was starting to accept the newfound truth. After a while he actually grew more reassured now that he knew the dragon’s true identity. In a way, he was half convinced that he knew Harry a lot better now.

“Where are we going?” he asked but found it meaningless shortly after realising that it wasn’t likely that Harry was going to answer in this state.

Slowly but surely, the scenery was starting to change and not in a good way either. What had been a beautiful forest of trees and lakes and everything nature had to offer was slowly becoming a wasteland, the type place Louis avoided at all costs.

Louis had never been here, and he understood why. The entire land looked as though there had been a mudslide, and because of that reason, nobody had settled here.

The air was mucky and disgusting, much different in contrast to the smell of evergreen and pine trees back at home. Louis hadn’t an idea where they were, but this was most certainly not the Berk he knew and loved.

After landing gracefully onto the muddy surface along a distinct path, Louis patted the dust away from himself, coughing a few times until he adjusted to the new air.

“Where are we?” Louis demanded after giving the atmosphere a thorough evaluation. He turned around expecting to see the Night Fury but seeing Harry instead. Out of everything, Louis wanted to ask how Harry shape shifted, how the transformation happened. It sure didn’t take much time if Harry was able to shift from dragon to human form with such precise timing.

Harry stared at him with solemn eyes, shoving his hands into the pockets of his trousers. “This was my village.”

Louis glanced around again, trying to find any remnants or evidence that this had once had civilization. “But there’s nothing here…”

“There was a fire. My parents died in it.”

“Oh,” was all Louis could manage. He glanced down at the ground to avoid awkward eye contact with the other male. His eyes wavered around, checking out the area once more. “A fire really did all this?”

“Dragons.”

“ _Dragons_ killed your parents?”

“You could say that. It was more of ‘cutting off loose ties to avoid future betrayal.’ Kinda hard to explain,” Harry waved it off, shrugging.

“But that’s not fair. Didn’t you have a say in it?”

“It wasn’t that easy. I wish it was, but it wasn’t. It’s just really hard to understand.”

Louis nodded his head, still finding it absolutely absurd that an entire dragon army had not only murdered his parents but an _entire village._ What did that say for the future of Berk?

Harry had originally had him convinced that dragons were these creatures that only stole food to protect themselves, and now Louis was half convinced he was only lying to protect his reputation. But would Harry do that? Would Harry lie to him?

Louis stepped one foot forward as to not get his feet stuck in the mud. “Why did you bring me here?”

“I wanted to show you what happens when something goes too far.”

“What do you mean?”

“Especially when it’s out of your control,” Harry continued with no regards as to what Louis was saying.

_He deserved more than this._

_It wasn’t fair._

Louis averted his eyes to look at Harry, hoping he couldn’t see through him. He didn’t want to show Harry that he dwelled on his past when Harry’s was clearly deeper and darker. It was almost sinister that Harry told him all about his life, but Louis couldn’t speak the words for his own. Maybe he wasn’t so brave after all.

“Louis?” His voice caught the Viking off guard after breathing in silence for so long.

“Yeah?”

“Do you still like me?”

Louis kept a straight face, unsure of what Harry was suggesting _exactly._ He came to the agreement that he was speaking on friendly terms, and it was best to keep it that way. “Of course I do.”

“Even after everything?”

The older boy scoffed, finding it odd that Harry still thought Louis thought so little of him. “After everything, how could I _not_ like you?”

“Do you trust me?”

Louis opened his mouth to talk but decided that wasn’t a good option. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Harry… But at the same time, he had his suspicions. It was best not to lead the boy on by not granting him the full truth.

Louis gulped. “We…should probably go eat.”

With a slight nod to the other boy’s head, he said in affirmation, “You’re right. Lunch is starting soon.”

Upon returning to the village, Louis adjusted quickly to the familiar scent of all things living, a relief that what he’d seen today was only a bad apple on a tree of fruits of amazing quality. There was nothing to worry about.

“Will there be enough food?” Liam questioned, thinking hard.

“We need alcohol too,” Zayn insisted.

“Oh, I’m so excited!” Niall cheered, tossing an arm over Liam.

The three went off in excitement of the after party that would take place tonight after the faceoff, while Louis and Harry sat beside each other, neither of them speaking a word to each other.

Louis was nervous as fuck, to put it lightly, but that was hardly a comparison when he looked at the panicked expression the other male wore. He could only imagine the thoughts running through Harry’s mind.

Finally Zayn was brave enough to ask him, “Harry, you alright?”

“Great!” Harry chirped, smiling forcefully. Louis, obviously, saw through it and found Harry’s hand under the table, folding their hands together secretly. Harry flinched slightly when their skin made contact, but they both fell into a comfortable silence that seemed to down the uneasiness they shared.

As they ate, Louis could only watch Harry with a worried look, wondering how he was planning to get himself out of this one. 

~

“Right here, Lou!”

Louis saw Liam rising to his feet from his seat, waving a hand in the air, a grin plastered on his face. He wondered how one could act so excited when it was obvious this wasn’t going to go well. Along with that, he thought of how his friends’ opinions would change after the faceoff was over.

He tried to assure himself that everything would be okay. His friends couldn’t _hate_ him, could they?

They’d stuck around for all this time. Surely they wouldn’t leave after one incident. Whether or not that was credible to consider, Louis was still left unwired and paranoid.

He dropped himself in the seat beside Liam, noticing that they were sitting in the very front, the wired cage right in front of their eyes, the open arena fully visible. Chatter filled the audience, and Louis continued to stare at the empty arena to distract himself from his two friends sucking face beside him.

He pressed his fingers to his eyes, rubbing them gently. He’d had about two hours of sleep the previous night, and to be quite honest, Louis was _exhausted._ It hadn’t been wise, considering the odds. Louis would be lucky if he got to even blink an eye after today.

He looked to his left to see Zayn smiling slightly at him. Sitting down beside him, he crossed his legs and let out a deep sigh.

“I hope Harry knows what he’s doing.”

“You know Harry. He has a plan. He always does,” Louis assured him, hoping he was right.

Zayn shook his head. “I don’t have a good feeling about this.”

There was an eruption of laughter coming from Niall and Liam that ceased to lessen the tension between Zayn and Louis. It was almost a little annoying that they were choosing now to flirt and act as if everything was normal.

Of course they wouldn’t act otherwise. _They didn’t know._

The next few minutes passed by a blur for Louis. He could hardly hear Stoick announcing the faceoff with how loud his heart was pounding.

He heard clapping, and his chest heaved slightly when he watched Harry walk out into the arena. Since he was facing the audience, Louis could see the mask of emotion he was wearing, trying to imagine what was on his mind. Harry’s eyes found Louis in the crowd, his lip raised slightly to reveal a barely noticeable smile.

“Good luck,” Louis mouthed to him and smiled slyly when Harry nodded in response.

He stared at Harry for a few seconds until the doors swung open, the fiery dragon flying out with no time to spare. The audience went hysterical but fell to silence once the Monstrous Nightmare’s flame died out, leaving a simply angry animal.

Harry dodged every move, moving away from the creature, something he had never done. He was wearing a Viking helmet with an ax in hand, a shield over himself. Using weapons was also something Harry had never done, Louis noted.

The curly-haired boy moved forward to the dragon, looking far from confident, another thing Louis wasn’t used to seeing in him. He wasn’t sure he liked it too much either.

Harry neared the animal, striking his ax into its nose. All at once, with Louis gasping in the middle of this, Harry took off into the other direction as a ball of fire shot out from the dragon’s mouth.

“Run!” Louis found himself shouting, his breath shaky with genuine fright.

Harry dodging it perfectly, the fire shot the wire, nearly catching the audience, but everyone was aware of everything and simply _so into it_ that they had ducked before they were roasted alive.

The Monstrous Nightmare went after Harry, growling aggressively at him. Then a cloud of dirt filled the air, and it became incredibly difficult to see anything except for the dragon every few milliseconds.

Dirt was scattering everywhere, and Louis was coughing as he squinted his eyes, trying to look through the foggy air for any sign of the dragon before the realisation dawned on him.

Harry was down there.

 _Fighting_ the dragon.

This was beyond anything he’d ever seen.

His frown grew wider when noticed something even more odd. Not only were there red colors appearing from the dirt, but also familiar purple scales.

_Harry._

What was he doing?

Louis watched closely as the dirt fell down around them, revealing them perfectly in front of the entire village. Gasps filled the arena, and people were shouting hysterically at each other.

“Night Fury!”

“Where’s Harry?”

“How did it get here?”

“Harry!”

The fight was still going on for a matter of seconds before Stoick entered the arena, swinging an ax at both dragons until they backed away from each other. At this moment, Louis was already up out of his seat and running into the battlefield.

“Harry!” he gasped out, deciding saying his name would do no harm; the truth was obvious. Louis ran to him, eager to reach him and hold him in his arms again.

The Monstrous Nightmare was pulled back into its pen, and Stoick was running to Harry as well, a group of older Vikings following behind.

Louis was still running, getting closer and closer to him. Any second now…

Then he took a wrong step and tripped over his own feet, plunging head-first into the ground. He picked himself up quickly, and got up on his feet again to begin running again.

Except the Vikings had already gotten to Harry.

Altogether they threw ropes over him, tying him down, shoving a big, fat muzzle over his mouth.

“Stop!” he shouted, finally reaching them. Louis pressed his hands against the scales, watching the fright in Harry’s eyes. He would get him out of this even if it killed him.

He began to undo the ropes, but hands caught him from behind, pulling him away from the dragon.

“No! Let go of me!” Louis struggled to get out of the Viking’s grasp, keeping his eyes on the prize. “You have no right! LET GO!”

He continued to fight, squirming and grunting. His eyes snapped shut at the pain of his hands being writhed together, and when he opened them, Stoick was standing in front of him.

Still fighting even now, Louis could only watch as Harry was pulled away from him, sadness and fear glowing in his eyes, until he disappeared from the arena.

Louis stopped struggling, dropping to the floor when he was released.

Louis couldn’t help him now.

Harry was gone.

There was a loud sigh in front of him. Stoick was crossing his arms, staring at Louis with an indignant look on his filthy face.

“I have never been more disappointed in my life,” he said, keeping his tensed expression. “ _You_ are a disappointment.”

“I know this looks bad, Stoick, but _honestly._ Dragons aren’t all that bad,” he responded with shaky breaths.

“That’s enough! I’m tired of hearing that! What do _you_ know? You’re nothing but a traitor!”

“They have themselves to take care of!” Louis cried out, desperate to prove his point, desperate to get Harry back. “They don’t steal food for themselves, they steal it to protect themselves! I’ve seen their nest myself, and I can tell you, there’s no way I’m wrong—”

“You saw their nest?”

Louis’ eyes widened so far he might as well have gone blind.

“No! I—Only a dragon can find the nest!” Stoick raised an eyebrow. And that was all it took for Louis to understand his intentions. “No, you can’t! Please don’t-”

“Enough!” Stoick slapped him across the face, leaving the blood pounding harshly in his cheeks.

“It’s not what you think!” Louis begged, dropping to his knees. “There’s this creature! It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen! You have to believe me!”

“Why should I?”

Louis stared at Stoick with bewilderment, his lips trembling with the knot forming in his throat. His face hurt from being slapped, but that was no match for his insides tearing apart as scrutinised the look of pure disillusionment on the elder’s face.

He’d never hated anyone before, but in that moment he was confident of his loathing for the chief.

Louis found the exit, running out of the arena. Luckily, nobody was stopping him.

He ran out to the bay, watching as Vikings rushed into ships. Louis stood over the edge of the dock, searching the area until he found the Night Fury strapped onto the floor of a ship, his lungs constricting right as he opened his mouth.

He tried to shout at him to warn him of Stoick’s intentions, but he fell speechless. He could only watch sadly as the ship carried on, Viking after Viking shouting at one another to get a move on.

The world was still moving, but Louis’ had stood still.

He allowed for a few tears to trickle down his cheeks as his mind reminded him of the harshness of reality. 

Harry was gone, and there was nothing he could do about it.

_It wasn’t fair._


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do you do when the one you love is also the enemy? Louis has his goals set on being the best Viking in Berk and all is going well until he meets the mysterious Harry Styles.

Louis sunk to his knees, watching the ship leave, taking the dragon away, taking _Harry_ away from him.

Normally at a time like this, the Viking would use the time he spent worrying to think of a reasonable idea of how to fix everything, or even question how and _why_ Harry had transformed in the battlefield. Perhaps it had been his anger which had changed him or simply his determination to win.

There was also the slim chance that Harry _wanted_ this to happen, which Louis didn’t even consider, seeing as that wasn’t likely. Why the hell would he _want_ to be taken away? And worse, to endanger his nest as well as the safety of the villagers?

This situation was simply unfathomable for Louis to comprehend. There was nothing simple about anything that had happened and no logical explanation as to how or why. Given Louis was still in shock from Harry’s secret, this wasn’t exactly a good time to bring despair into his life.

The real question here was: how could he fix this?

Everybody had left to search for the nest, unknowingly escaping to their deaths. And worst of all, there was nothing, _absolutely_ nothing Louis could do to prevent this from happening. They were already on their way, and what was Louis doing in the midst of here? Alongside his depressing thoughts and shortage of breath, the young Viking was still sitting at the edge of the dock, staring at the bright skies surrounding him, contrasting well with the darkness clouding inside. 

Feeling lousy and a little pathetic at his lack of action, he brought his knees to his chest, curling into a ball to hide himself from the world. Louis had been taught to act this way from his youth. After being told his entire life to keep his strength throughout it all, he always looked for shortcuts to shelter his pain, and overall, himself.

And that was exactly what Louis was doing.

Sitting here.

 _Not_ helping the boy who needed him now.

He dug his fingers into his eyes, rubbing them deeply, a slight sting burning in his sockets when his blue orbs flicked open again. He stared at the ocean below, pondering the wonders in the ocean, the wonders that were possible. There was so much out there to discover, so much that many tended to pin with the words _impossible_ or _nonexistent_ or _ridiculous._ After being exposed to such _impossibilities,_ he couldn’t help but feel hopeful that the future held more for him, more for humanity.

The soft emerald eyes flashed into his mind before he could think further of the wonders of the world because, in fact, the biggest wonder of the world was Harry himself.

And what was Louis doing to protect that? He was _sitting here,_ doing _absolutely nothing._  

_You’re a coward._

The second the words flashed into his mind, a tear trickled down his cheek, as if reliving the pain over and over again. Although Harry had told him that long ago, long before they were formally introduced, the words pierced through him like a thousand gunshots, aiming to only cause further devastation and emotional relapse with every bullet.

Louis was a _coward._

Harry was in danger! Why wasn’t he helping him?

“Lou,” a voice said from behind, not surprising him in the slightest. Footsteps followed, slowly making way to him. Louis continued to stare straight ahead. "Some victory party, huh?"

Louis said nothing.

“Are you okay?”

Louis kept staring ahead, noticing the different colors swirling in the sky. “Oh yeah, I’m great. They just took Harry away and everyone’s going to die. Everything’s peachy.”

Zayn sat beside him, leaning forward to look at him. “It’s not the end of the world. I mean, come on. At least they’re not going to kill him.”

“You don’t get it. You see, there’s this thing at the nest, and they’re making Harry take them there.” Zayn opened his mouth to speak, but Louis kept going. “Don’t you get it? That _thing_ is going to kill us, and it’s _all my fault!_ ”

“Harry’s the one who changed in front of everyone. That wasn’t you.”

“Oh, so now it’s his fault?”

“I didn’t say that,” Zayn objected, tossing a rock into the water.

“But that’s what you meant.”

“Look, Louis. I know everything’s a mess right now, and it looks bad. We know that. But it can’t really get worse now, right?”

“Well, it’s going to—”

“Not what I meant.”

Louis watched him intently, wanting him to get to the point already.

“Do you know how I found out about Harry? I was in the forest the other day, getting a quick shag. Same old, same old. Yeah, well, I was just walking home when I saw this dragon flying out of nowhere. So I acted quick and went after it, but the second I did, it was too late. I had already watched it change into Harry. And Jesus fuck, mate, he was bloody terrified. I couldn’t do shit to him. I felt sorry for the poor bugger.”

Louis thought back to the first time he interacted with the dragon, how they had both been frightened of each other, how neither had caused harm to one another.

“You see why we have to help him now?” Zayn interjected into his thoughts. “If he’s that terrified of getting killed by one of us, can you imagine how terrified he is right now?”

“What, you think I don’t care?” Louis snapped.

“I didn’t say that. But really, Louis, it wouldn’t hurt to _pretend_ like you actually give two shits about the guy.”

“I care about him,” the Viking growled between clenched teeth. “Don’t you fucking _dare_ tell me I don’t.”

“If you really cared about him, you would prove it. You would do something to _save him._ ”

“Maybe if I knew how, I would.”

Zayn sighed. “Look, all I’m saying is, there’s still hope for you. For Harry. That’s something I never had with Macy.”

With Zayn bringing his ex into the picture, Louis couldn’t find it in him to continue to fight. Instead, he watched the sadness looming in his friend’s eyes and sighed. 

“You’re right.”

Louis nodded his head, already beginning to formulate a plan. Standing up from the ground made his bum feel like jelly from having sat down for such a long period of time. He paced for a bit before heading off in the other direction.

“Where are you going now?”

Louis clenched his fists, embracing his newfound determination.

“To save Harry.”

~

For what it was worth, Harry really expected the ship to be bigger. He supposed this method of transportation was mainly used for trading ports or simply for a smaller group of people. If that was the case, the rules were being violated considering they had a dragon in their possession along with the village of Vikings.

What did it matter anyway? They weren’t providing for him; he was the _prisoner._ He was only here to direct them to the nest and hope for the best that their further intentions didn’t involve a death sentence.

After being tied up for a long period of time, he managed to get himself to transform back in order to escape. Sadly the Vikings had caught on and gave him new and more size-proportional chains, that way if he tried to change form, he would not only be restricted but killed.

“Listen...” Gobber said to Stoick, “I was just talking to a couple of men, and some of us were wondering what the plan is—if there’s even a plan at all. But if there is, what might it be?”

“Find the nest and take it.”

“Thought so.”

“We’re almost there. I can smell it,” Stoick announced, staring out at the foggy mist ahead. He glanced back at Harry, shooting him a menacing glare. “Tell us where to go.”

Harry stared at him with a loss for words.

The chief Viking was quick to hold his ax to Harry’s face, glowering darkly at him. “Tell us where it is.”

“No,” Harry finally responded, eyeing the blade carefully as it made contact below his chin.

Stoick slid it across his cheek, causing a slab of red to stream down. It made Harry wince at the pain, but he wouldn’t tell. He would rather _die_ than give away the location.

“I can’t kill you,” the Viking said, as if reading his thoughts aloud. “But I can torture you. Gobber, remove his shirt please.”

Gobber jumped from the higher deck, giving Stoick a quizzical look as if doing any harm to Harry was unjustifiable. Stoick glared at him as if to say “well, do it,” and that was all it took for Gobber to shoot the prisoner a solemn expression and mutter, “Sorry, kid.”

Harry’s shirt was ripped away from him, the coolness of the air literally sending goosebumps down his spine. The clasps were tightened on his limbs, making it impossible for him to even consider escaping. Exposed and trapped, he could only mentally prepare himself for the pain that would come.

Stoick bent over to face him, grimacing, “I don’t want to hurt you, Harry, but you leave me with no other choice.” He circled around him, slapping the whip onto the railing of the ship threateningly. “I’ll ask again _nicely._ Will you show us where the nest is?”

Harry was hesitant, unsure if he was physically prepared to deal with any pain, but his thoughts threw him back, reminding him to protect these people not only for their sake but for his.

“No,” he said at first but continued to talk, “I must warn you, sir. I’m a bit weak when it comes to pain. You’re lucky if one lash doesn’t send me into immediate death.”

Stoick stared at him briefly before shaking his head. “You’re good at stalling.” Harry felt the coldness of the whip pat his back gently. “Let’s see how good you are at talking.”

“No, wait! I’ll…I’ll tell you.”

The chief stepped back, crossing his arms impatiently.

“I hope you know what you’re getting yourselves into,” Harry warned them for the final time. “Just keep going straight.”

Stoick stared at him suspiciously before turning around to return to the wheel.

Harry, disappointed that he’d lost the battle, accepted the defeat quickly and decided he might as well be helpful. It was simple thinking. If Stoick wanted to lead his tribe into death, so be it.

“Turn left,” he directed them once they had reached a bundle of rocks.

“Are you sure?”

Gobber sighed. “He’s telling the truth.”

“How do you know?”

The edges scratched along the side of the ship, causing uncontrollable rocking throughout, startling every passenger as they passed through.

“Go right.”

Harry gulped, staring down at his hands. His wrists were covered with the shackles, and it was a matter of time before all his blood circulation would be cut off completely. The chains were on quite tightly, and it wouldn’t be too long now.

Attempting to clench his fists, he looked for a sign of blood. One man came over to him, frowning at him for the odd gesture. Harry sent him an approving look, assuring him that he wasn’t trying to act aggressive or mean anyone any harm.

He exhaled lowly as they went further into the rocks, getting closer by the second. A sharp pain tugged in his chest when he recalled the events in the ring. He remembered every detail. Why he had attacked the dragon he had no idea. The real question was, had that been a good option to the alternative: telling the truth?

Louis’ reaction had been the epitome of his thoughts, reminding him of every reason why he hated himself. The poor Viking had run toward him. Harry would never forget the helpless look on his face as he was shoved out of the arena.

It had been the first time Harry had seen him cry, and it wasn’t as pleasurable as he’d imagined.

Who knew what Louis was up to by now? Probably beating his head against a rock and blaming himself for Harry’s actions. Louis was very capable of being an arrogant, self-centered prick, but he still cared about Harry, or at least he liked to think so.

If that was true, where was he?

Harry tried not to think about the alternate options, that Louis didn’t care enough to go after him, that he was only lying around with hopes that Harry would magically return.

He doubted that, though. Louis at least cared about him a little, right?

Maybe it was true that Louis fucked everyone in his path, but that didn’t mean he fucked _with_ them.

Harry didn’t even want Louis to return his feelings; he didn’t know what he wanted from the older Viking anyway. If it was acceptance, he already had it after everything he’d witnessed thus far. If it was anything more, Harry was just going to have to forget it because he couldn’t force him to change his heart.

He let out a shaky sigh, shivers traveling up and down his spine, a mix of fright with the cool breeze coming in from the east, doing little to ease the warmness growing from his anxiety.

“Straight ahead,” he gave the final instructions, dropping his head shamefully, accepting defeat.

~

“Pass me the rope,” Louis demanded, walking over to the shields. Everyone else lined up behind him, waiting for their tasks to be assigned. Eleanor moved ahead, grabbing a knife off the top shelf. “Whoa, whoa! You won’t need that.”

She lifted an eyebrow. “We’re going into combat, and you’re suggesting we _don’t_ bring weapons?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Louis tossed the first ball of rope at her. “Now everyone needs one of these. Pick a dragon and hop on!”

“Wait, what?” Zayn interjected, grabbing his rope. “We’re riding them?”

Louis nodded. “Don’t look so surprised. You saw this coming.”

“Actually, I didn’t-”

“Find a dragon and _hurry!_ ” Louis didn’t have time for this. Any second now Harry could be dead, and it would really be his fault after all.

After Liam grabbed his rope, the last Viking to join them on their mission, Louis dragged him over to the pen, where the dragons flew out, surprisingly acting calmly as they were approached.

Louis held Liam’s hand out, but he pulled back, frowning.

“Trust me,” Louis assured him, helping his friend to extend his hand until it was nuzzling the nose of the Monstrous Nightmare. Liam was closing his eyes but opened them when he realised the dragon wasn’t going to harm him.

Louis allowed him time to adjust and went on to help everyone else.

When he swung himself onto a Gronckle, he let out a sigh, hoping he could really save Harry.

He would do his best.

~

“Ready your weapons,” Harry heard Stoick say.

He could see the shore at this point, the rocks marking the path to the entrance to the cave. The ship stopped, an anchor dropping into the water. Stoick swung himself over the edge, pacing himself to head into the cave.

Harry grunted, struggling once again as he attempted to get out of the trap. The air had grown considerably cooler, and his arms were covered in goosebumps, and in all honesty, he wanted his shirt back. But he wanted to be released more than anything.

Stoick approached the cave, and soon it became impossible for Harry to view him. The chief’s arm shot out, gesturing at Gobber to shoot the canons. Three bolts of fire flew toward the cave, creating dents and holes on the surface. One bolt went flying into the cave, lighting up the cave to show the thousands of dragons hiding inside. Instantly Stoick wagged his ax around, shouting at the top of his lungs as the creatures screeched and growled, flying out frightfully in a rush to get away from the wild man.

Stoick turned around and began heading back, a satisfied expression on his face.

“All clear.”

If only he were right.

Out of nowhere, the ground began to shake. The rocks fell down behind him, and it didn’t take long for him to notice. The chief turned around, watching as the nest was taken down by the unknown force.

Harry’s breathing was jagged, and he was desperately trying to free himself, knowing this was it.

The creature began to pop out of the remainder of the rocks, sending Stoick running back to the ships. His foot caught onto a branch, knocking him down. Harry watched as his body tumbled over to which Gobber proceeded to help him get up.

The creature was now fully visible, its enormity enough to drive anyone mad. It was nothing Harry hadn’t seen before, granted it _did_ overwhelm him as much as the next guy. He really fought the chains this time, willing to do anything to get out and help.

Stoick stared at the sight with mercy hanging on his every word. “Odin, help us.”

The dragon stayed put for the most part, moving around every now and then. Everyone else was running around in circles, doing absolutely everything they could to panic.

“Catapults!” A Viking announced, but it was too late. Their first catapult was already being played with and crushed like a toy.

“To the ships!”

All Vikings ran to the ships beside the one Harry was in, but it wasn’t long until the dragon drew fire from its breath, the entirety of the ship catching on fire. People were screaming and crying, demanding to know details about Stoick’s plan.

“Lead them to the far side of the island,” Stoick said to Gobber, his breathing uneven. Gobber continued to watch him with a worried look. “I’ll be fine! Make sure everyone’s safe.”

“But Stoick—”

“Don’t ‘but Stoick’ me, I’m the chief of Berk and it’s my job to protect the citizens. If I say I’m going to stay behind, I’m staying behind.” He paused to stare at the creature as it continued to set the rest of the ships afire. “Now _go._ ”

Gobber looked at Stoick then back at the men who were already heading the other way. “I’m not letting you do this on your own.”

“I have to! It’s my duty.”

“Well, I’m staying. We need a distraction anyhow if we’re going to kill this thing.”

“Alright,” the chief gave in. He looked at the creature once more, jumping in the air. “Come on! Fight me!”

“Hey!” Gobber shouted next. “Come ‘ere, ye little devil!”

The dragon’s eyes shifted to see both Vikings yelling at him, its mouth cracking open with gas forming in the back of its mouth. About to bolt fire at them, its action came to a halt when the Monstrous Nightmare came up behind it, a large blast of fire knocking the back of its head.

“Liam!” Harry cried out, trying to run to him but restrained by the chains. “Ugh!”

A series of dragons flew behind the larger creature, his friends revealing their faces one by one. Harry’s heart skipped when he spotted Louis riding a Nadder, soaring in the sky. He looked so alluring, so beautiful from this angle, a true sign of hope.

As Louis drifted closer, his appearance was outlined clearly. Dark bags underneath his eyes with his tousled hair were clearly an indication of his exhaustion. Harry couldn’t help the hopeful smile that crossed his face when Louis finally landed safely.  

“Louis!” he exclaimed, once again miserably attempting to escape.

With barely a glance, Louis told him, “I’m getting you outta here.”

“You came.”

Louis frowned, bending over to help Harry out of the chains. “Why wouldn’t I? You don’t think I’d leave you here to die, do you?”

“No. I mean—it’s just… Never mind. What took you so long?”

Louis ignored him, swearing loudly instead. “I can’t break open these locks. I’m not strong enough,” he admitted weakly.

Harry groaned. “Neither am I.”

Louis stared hard at him before glancing back at the creature, who was still running amuck but getting shot at by the other dragons meanwhile. “Okay, here’s what we’ll do. You stay here, I’ll be back.” Harry gave him a desperate look, not wanting to stay behind. Louis leaned over, setting his hand over his shoulder. “I promise.”

Harry watched Louis with a sad expression as he ran off, climbing back onto the Nadder, flying away. He stared down at himself, trying to pinpoint how he could possibly get himself out. Perhaps there was something he could use to pound against the chains, except everything was out of his reach. He couldn’t even use his feet to drag the ax lying inches away.

Nevertheless, he grunted as he trying to force himself from the chains to lean over, cursing at the pain through the process. His eyes snapped shut, and he was shouting in agony, but escaping was all that mattered.

His eyes wavered over to the dragon who continued to cause mayhem. Harry wondered how it had gotten that way, so desperate to keep control that the outcome was the opposite. Its minions had betrayed its orders, leading the enemy to them. It was simply dealing with the consequences, but Harry couldn’t help but put himself in its shoes simply because Harry saw himself in every bit of hatred he felt for the beast.

In the corner of his eye, Louis was leading his friends to distract the dragon. He looked back at Harry, still tied to the boat and desperately trying to escape. His heart quenched, wishing something could be done to save him.

“Look for its blind spot!” he shouted at Zayn and Niall, who were riding the double-headed dragon.

“I don’t think it has one…” Niall answered plainly. Louis observed the numerous eyes the creature had, small and round, watching everywhere. Clearly there wasn’t anything it wouldn’t see, therefore, having no blind spot.

Liam came around the corner, banging on his shield in an attempt to distract it. “I think it’s working!”

As he spoke, the dragon shook its head dizzily.

“Yeah!” Louis cheered, circling around the dragon to further help.

“Shit!” Niall swore when their dragon shifted downwards confusedly and edged closer and closer to the creature’s snout. Louis watched anxiously, wanting to head over to help them but not wanting to risk it at the same time. “I’ve lost control!”

“Do something!” Zayn shouted back right as their dragon immediately coursed back into action, relieving them of panic.

“We’re okay!”

Little did they know _okay_ was an understatement. At the same time, Liam was continuing to blast his shield, except his hand slipped, causing the shield to fall into one of the creature’s eyes.

The creature, now completely pissed off, blew fire at the untouched ships ahead, including the one Harry was trapped on.

From the distance, Louis could see Harry struggling to get out as the fire clouded around him, making harder for him to see. His breath caught in his throat as he guided his dragon to make way to him.

The sight around him was astounding; every ship had caught on fire, and the skies that had once been a foggy white had now darkened with the flames rising from the mess.

Louis landed yards away from the ship, swinging his feet over the dragon and immediately running up the ship, which was now beginning to sink. As he ran, his heart thumped loudly, and his thoughts went _harryharryharry,_ and he swore he was going to faint with the anxiousness coaxing him.

The water had washed away some of the flames, allowing Louis a path to Harry. His eyes found the curly-haired lad right away, only able to see his upper body since the rest was sinking with the ship. Harry was screaming for help, and it killed Louis that he wasn’t there to help him.

But that didn’t matter.

He was here _now,_ and he would help Harry or die trying.

Louis thought fast, overwhelmed by the thoughts on his mind. It was a terrible time to think and time was passing quickly, everything clouded and hazy. Without thinking, he sucked in a ball of air before heading underwater. Searching for any foreign object, his eyes caught onto an ax to the side of Harry’s leg. He picked it up, returning to the surface.

“I’m getting you out of here, as promised.” Louis pressed his ax against the chains with all his might.

“Louis, just—”

The chain uncoiled itself, sinking to the bottom of the ship. Louis somewhat smiled, throwing his arms around Harry, dropping his head into the nape of his neck.

“God, I just—I’m so glad that—God, Harry—I couldn’t—” Louis went on, unsure of what he was trying to say or trying to express. He pulled away from the hug, watching as Harry’s excited eyes grew brighter. Something about seeing Harry helpless had troubled Louis, or at least made him weak to his knees.

“Ready to save the world? Or at least Berk.” Harry rolled his eyes at his clichéd phrase.

“Let’s get out of here first.” He pulled onto Harry, the two of them dragging their bodies off the ship and onto the ground. Louis helped Harry up, both of their bodies filthy and wet with mud.

“Ready?” Harry asked again, Louis nodding right away. He wasn’t expecting it, but Harry changed form right in front of his eyes, catching him off guard. His eyes widened with amazement as the same emerald orbs watched him just as they had a moment ago.

Louis nodded in understanding, climbing onto his back. He adjusted himself onto Harry, finding it difficult to keep himself stable without a harness. The fin still intact, they were off, soaring smoothly in the sky together. Just like old times.

Looking back at the ship they left behind, the creature had made its way there, crashing its giant foot through the deck, splitting the structure right down the middle. Louis’ heart galloped in his chest, knowing they’d be dead if they’d lingered a while longer.

From the distance Niall called out, “Distractions! We need them!”

“Night Fury!” Gobber shouted from down below just as Harry blew a bright shade of blue at the creature, catching its attention. Its eyes found Louis as it growled, turning its large body to lean to them. Its mouth opened, the razorblade teeth taking Louis’ entire view.

“Holy shit.”

Harry rocket them away, and Louis didn’t even look back once the creature began to chase them, not quite reaching them close enough since it couldn’t walk too fast with its enormous size.

As they circled around the dragon, Louis noticed something.

“It has wings! Let’s see if it can use them!”

Niall and Zayn landed on the ground, a safe distance away from the fires, watching as Louis rode the Night Fury into the sky.

“What’s he doing?” the Irishman said in surprise. “It can fly?”

Zayn gulped, watching as the giant creature’s wings pulled out from behind, allowing it to fly with the right precision.

Beside them, Liam was crossing his fingers, though nobody was sure what was really going on. Gobber and Stoick were trying to get the rest of the Vikings under control, but even their attention was focused on the boy and the dragon flying above the clouds.

There were sparks of light scattered through the sky, the brightness showing the shadow of each dragon every so often, but still making it difficult to pinpoint the exact situation.

Louis pulled Harry into a sharp turn, turning back every few seconds to keep track of the distance between them and the other dragon. They were in the clouds, the skies pretentiously foggy, and it was impossible to see anything. His heart was racing, his mind was overwhelming him, and he found it hard to breathe with the air quickly passing in and out of his lungs. However, the adrenaline rushing through him made up for that, and he was quick to every action, making sure he knew what he was doing.

“Okay, I have a plan,” he told Harry, sounding slightly muffled with the wind picking up around them. “Get ready to shoot.”

His heart pounding out of his chest, he allowed them to slow down near the creature. It took a few seconds, but finally the dragon reached them just close enough for Louis to turn them around to face it.

“Now!”

Right away, a bolt of blue flew from Harry’s mouth and into the larger creature’s, causing it to fly still for a matter of seconds before the flames traveled throughout its body, slowly but surely knocking it out of the clouds and onto the ground.

As it made contact with the earth, the fire spread quick enough for it to cause an explosion to disintegrate the creature into nothing. The fire was absorbing oxygen, making it harder for Harry and Louis to fly away. When Louis made an attempt to fly them out of there, he looked back to see that the artificial fin had clipped off, leaving them with no support to continue.

Harry screeched painfully, and Louis cried out, “Harry!” but it came out as barely a whisper. He grabbed onto the side of the wing to try and save them both, but what was left of the creature, its fin, was falling to the ground, catching them along with it.

Louis saw the fire below them, screaming as they were dropped into the explosion.

The last thing he saw before blacking out were Harry’s green eyes, seeing nothing but love through them, a perfect way to bring him his final seconds.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do you do when the one you love is also the enemy? Louis has his goals set on being the best Viking in Berk and all is going well until he meets the mysterious Harry Styles.

The skies a bleak grey, isolated by fog and smog and everything else to make the air lucid, ashes piled on the ground with the corpses left abandoned, it was as though the entirety of the world had escalated in mere minutes.

Niall pushed his way past the crowd, shock crawling up his legs with every move he made, trying to enter the scene of the crime. Liam and Zayn, behind him, rushed with desperation to reach the front, their own safety set aside.

Niall shot one foot over the other, his clumsiness bringing him to fall to the ground, his heart already beating at thousand beats per second. Liam rushed to him, helping him pick himself up, asking him again and again if he was okay. Niall brushed it away, giving Liam an obvious look that said, _“forget about me, there are other important things to worry about.”_

Stoick stepped in between them, gesturing at them to move back from the creature.

“But—” Niall began but stopped, deciding it wasn’t worth the argument.  

The Night Fury lay sprawled across the ground, boulders and rocks and plenty of debris surrounding him, his wings diverting downward where his chest moved slowly and lifelessly. The three boys stared simultaneously as if waiting for something to happen.

Nobody knew of Louis’ whereabouts, and a successful search wasn’t possible at this point. They would keep trying and trying, but perhaps if Harry had at least made it, then it would make it a bit easier on them to accept the loss.

Niall dropped to his knees, finding it useless to go back behind the crowd since he was already here and couldn’t go any further. Liam wrapped an arm around him, letting his head drop onto his shoulder. Niall nestled in the warm feelings surrounding him, but they did little to help with the situation.

“In spite of this mess, I think that—it’s best we head home, for important reasons—as to be safe,” Stoick said softly, tripping over his words, clearly just as affected by this tragedy.

“What about Harry?”

“Yeah, is he dead?”

“No, he’s still alive!”

The words spread throughout the crowd. Eleanor sighed, dropping her body beside Zayn, immediately running a hand through her long locks of hair.

“I was supposed to get married today,” she said irritatingly.

Zayn chuckled without humor. “Looks like that’s not going to happen.”

A woman with thick brown hair made her way through the crowd of people, shoving them aside to part ahead. Standing directly behind Louis and Harry’s friends, she could only watch the beast with caution in her eyes, her legs shaking with anticipation, afraid to step any further.

“Where is my son?” she demanded to know, but nobody seemed to acknowledge her. “Where’s Louis?” She spoke through clenched teeth, desperate for an answer.

A growling sound bellowed from the Night Fury, causing the silence to commence louder, impeccable attention focused completely in one place, not one pair of eyes watching anything else.

Harry tossed to his side, flipping one eye open. Comfortable enough to open both eyes freely, he saw the Vikings staring at him, judging him with their accusing eyes. More than anything, though, all of them looked scared beyond their minds.

Once he gathered enough strength to move, he was able to flap his wings open enough to reveal a spectral view of light brunet locks, a gasp traveling through the Vikings once the full view was visible.

Stoick was the first, and the only one truly brave enough, to inch closer to the dragon, glancing at Harry for a look of approval before dropping to his knees to see the twenty-year-old lying before him.

“Louis?” Niall came forth, the others slowly bringing their bodies forward.

Zayn scrunched his eyebrows, a look of worry crossing his face. “He’s not… Is he?”

Liam held both hands behind his back, drawing himself up slowly, the dragon’s wings now fully exposing Louis.

His body shuddered as Niall brought his hands out to peel Louis away from Harry, still unsure if he was going to be okay. He pressed his ear to Louis’ chest, listening closely to the gentle rhythm of his heart going the normal beat of thu-thump, thu-thump…

“He’s breathing,” he gasped out, a tingle crawling through his arms, a slight pulsing sound traveling through his ears with every bit of relief he felt; his friend wasn’t dead.

“Ni…Niall?” the boy began, a slight raspy sound to his voice.

“He’s alive!”

All at once the audience exploded into cheers, relief breaking out in the faces in the crowd, the booming of their voices prolonging enough to drown out Louis’ voice which was struggling to be drawn out.

Niall downed his head closer to the panting boy, who was grasping his arm with much distress. Louis moved his hand away from the injury, watching a gash of blood fill and spill over his fingertips, causing him to wince in pain.

“He’s hurt!” Niall announced, but everyone was still rambunctious over the fact that Louis was alive in the first place. The Irishman grunted, desperately trying to pull his friend up from the ground without causing him any further pain. “Can anybody help?”

Liam immediately took Louis’ hand—the one that wasn’t grasping onto his wound.

“Be careful!”

“Relax, it’s okay.”

“You’re hurting him!”

“Niall!”

“I’m fine…” Louis assured them, though how softly he spoke could only indicate that he was far from fine. His head cocked back enough to glance at the Night Fury. “Is Harry okay?”

“Yes, he’s fine. Now c’mon, we have to get you help,” Niall told him, pulling gently on his unwounded arm. “More ships are coming.” A worried look crossed Louis’ face. “Relax, you’re going to be fine.”

“It’s not me I’m worried about.” He looked at Harry.

“Come on. It’s time to go.”

The ships came by awhile later, giving everyone enough time to discuss what had happened and what was going to happen. More than anything, the village was thrilled that too many hadn’t been killed today, and most of all, that Louis was okay.

Louis fell asleep at some point, and he never recalled being taken onto a ship and back home. Niall watched him and Harry the whole time, Liam stuck at his side. Surprisingly, Harry didn’t suffer much damage, which was incredible considering the lengths he’d passed.

It took him about a day to recover, and he spent the time after that watching Louis with hope that he would awake soon and would be okay. Every day he would come over, his mum greeting him and immediately letting him in only to find that Louis was still out, his hopes crushed by the severity of disappointment.

When he finally awoke, everything was blurry at first, slowly regurgitating back to the brink of normality. It took him a few seconds to realise that he was at his house, lying on his bed with blankets piled on top of him.

“Mum?” he called out but didn’t have the patience to wait for a response. “Mum!”

“You’re awake,” a sound came from behind the door, the figure slowly creeping in. Bags covered his eyes, his hair tousled, more messy than curly in this case. He leaned his body against the wood of the wall, watching Louis with close precision.

“Hi,” Louis found himself saying rather bashfully.

Harry shook his head awkwardly, smiling wryly. “Your mum went out to get more medicine. You’ve been out for two days.”

“Two days?” His eyes widened, the images flashing back in his mind. The nest, the creature, the explosion… He remembered it all. Panicking at the time he’d wasted asleep, he attempted to get out of bed but winced at the pain crawling through his arm.

“Yeah, you broke your arm,” Harry stated, chuckling softly.

Louis scanned Harry’s body quickly, no scratch or bruise or anything of that sort in sight. “How on earth did you get off scotch-free?”

“I heal fast.”

He nodded with slight understanding. “So you’re okay then?”

“Now that you’re awake,” Harry began, sitting himself on the edge of his bed, “I couldn’t be better.”

Louis’ eyes found the other boy’s instantly, serious gazes toward each other until Louis averted his attention away, blood pounding in his cheeks.

“Listen, Eleanor’s getting married in a few days.”

“She is?” Louis raised an eyebrow. He must have been asleep when this had been discussed.

Harry nodded his head. “To some bloke, I forget his name. But it’s going to be a lot of fun.” He grinned, causing Louis to smile back without another thought.

“I’ve never been to a wedding.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” he started as Harry inched closer to him. “I’m not big on commitment.”

Harry’s emerald orbs blazed into him, the message clearly imprinted in his pupils. “I figured that… But that doesn’t mean you can’t attend it.”

“True.”

They stared at each other for a matter of seconds before Harry stood up, exhaling loudly. “I’d better get you something to eat.”

“Wait,” Louis spoke up, Harry watching him, waiting for him to say something. “I…er… Come here.”

Obeying him, the curly-haired boy made his way back to Louis’ bed with a slight tremble in his actions. He sat at a reasonably far place, still watching Louis with curiosity. Louis sat up, ignoring the slight pain traveling through his arm. He pulled himself closer to Harry and once that gave Harry the right message, he moved closer to Louis on his own.

“I…” Louis began to say, but he had gotten himself lost in those lustful green eyes.

Acting on his emotions, he tilted his head to crane toward Harry’s, his lips puckered, ready to feel those plump pink lips over his, kissing away the pain, the emotions that were unwinding, filling and spilling into him, the love he was suddenly overcome with, with no way to describe this conception.

The second before their lips connected, Harry let out a sigh, breathing hotly into Louis’ face. Was it a sign of hesitance or defeat, Louis hadn’t a clue.

“Sorry,” Harry finally said, his face flaming up. “I need a moment.”

Louis fell back against the wall, watching the curly-haired lad leave the room with a distinct flush on his face. Louis sat there, ignoring the pain regaining in his arm, trying to wipe away how aroused he felt from being so close to Harry.

Eventually he got his medicine and a fair amount of rest. It came off as surprising how even after two days of being well-rested, Louis still managed to fall asleep for another ten consecutive hours. Little did he know Harry stuck by him the whole night.

~

“Stoick really did that?” Niall exclaimed with widened eyes, pulling Liam into a hug. “God, I’m so happy for you!”

Liam giggled, running a hand through the other boy’s dirty blond locks. “Are you sure I should do it?”

“Well, there’s no reason you shouldn’t. I mean, think about it! How many times does a mason get moved up?” Liam gave him a thoughtful look, and Niall smiled. “That’s right. Never. You get it then?”

“Yeah, but I dunno. I really like my job as it is… Besides, if I take it, I’ll have less time to spend with you.”

A gloomy look crossed both of their faces, but Niall set all emotion aside. “We’ll still see each other. It’s not like you’re leaving Berk.”

“I would never.”

“Good,” Niall said with a smile. “I can’t believe you’re really going to be Gobber’s assistant.”

“I can hardly believe it either. It’s just, what I don’t understand is why Gobber needs one when he’s already an assistant. It’s quite redundant in a way.”

Niall shook his head. “Don’t question it. You’re very lucky you were offered the position in the first place.”

“You’re right.” He clung onto Niall’s waist, reeling him closer for their breath to brush the skin on their faces. “What would I be without you?”

Niall went into a fit of giggles, smiling like an idiot before making direct eye contact with the other boy, suddenly finding him irresistible. Given that he was _always_ this alluring, this was exceptional.

Their lips pressed together eagerly, kissing each other hungrily. Liam tangled his fingers into Niall’s hair, Niall returning the favor. Their bodies grinded together, causing Niall to moan softly, laughing right after.

He pulled away, still chuckling.

“What? Why are you laughing?”

“No reason,” he stifled after the last of his giggles. “It’s just…you’re acting very fruity today.”

“Fruity? Interesting.”

“No, that was the wrong word. I don’t even…” Niall’s laughs began again, causing him to drop his head onto Liam’s shoulder, his body bouncing with the chuckles spurting out of him. “You’re normally so humble and quiet, or—what I mean is, you’re…spontaneous.”

Liam smirked. “Do you like spontaneous, Mr. Horan?”

“Yes, but I like you more.”

Liam laughed, wrapping an arm around his neck, bringing him close enough so he could mess up Niall’s hair until it was a complete mess, best described as what one would call “sex hair.”

“Spontaneous enough for you?”

“My hair!”

“Cry about it,” Liam grinned. “Anyway, I’d better leave. I’m the best man, remember?”

“I thought it was Zayn.”

“Zayn? Best man?” Liam shook his head slowly. “You’re funny.”

Niall patted his pants, clearing the dust away. He and Liam had been out working for a few hours together, otherwise known as the last day Liam would be working for him. Sad as it was, Niall couldn’t be the one holding him back.

“Hey, when’s the wedding?” He found himself asking.

“Tomorrow, right after a town meeting. Apparently Stoick has an important announcement.”

Niall rolled his eyes. “When aren’t any of his announcements important?”

Liam sighed, leaning against the counter. “Maybe it has something to do with finding the dragon’s nest, more-so nearly getting everyone killed.”

“Dragons aren’t that bad, you know,” Niall found himself saying. “I mean, after what we witnessed, Harry _did_ save Louis’ life, as strange as it was.”

“I’m just having a hard time trying to understand how this works. Who would’ve thought Harry, little ol’ Harry, is a dragon?”

Niall nodded with agreement. “It’s definitely surprising.”

“Okay, I really have to go.” Liam moved away from the counter, walking between the board of weapons and Niall. He turned around slightly, pecking Niall softly on the cheek. “Don’t forget to lock up!”

“Have fun trying on dresses!” Niall laughed, noticing how Liam was quick to give him the finger before running off in the other direction.

He continued to laugh to himself, dropping his elbows to the counter and shaking his head with amusement. Nobody could get enough of Liam, or at least that’s how Niall saw it.

Getting bored of standing around, he decided to reorganise the weapons in a way that would be easier for the customers to view. Niall wasn’t a perfectionist or anything of that sort, but there was nothing wrong with keeping things in check.

Everything was quiet, and, in a way, it was almost calming to him. After spending his days with the loudness of Liam’s voice in his ear as well as every one of his friends—and let’s not forget that Niall talked way too much sometimes—, it was nice to have some quiet in his life.

It was getting dark out, and Niall was humming to himself while he watched to see if anyone else was coming. When the coast was clear, he left his post, locking up just as Liam had said. He made his way around the corner, passing a couple of teenagers who were snogging with their bodies pressed together next to a building. Jealousy beamed in him with a mix of arousal, wishing Liam was here to satisfy his desires. Nonetheless, he smiled with the knowledge that Liam was at home, just _waiting_ to help him out.

Niall heard a slight rattling sound coming from the distance, his feet continuing to clap the ground loudly to see if he was the source. When he failed the test, he decided to follow the noise to see if it was anything dangerous. But as he neared, he found it to be the sound of two people having a conversation.

Closer and closer, he saw Stoick’s thick, raggedy beard, and that was all it took to get him to gasp and drop to the ground, rolling over a few times until he reached a clump of weeds and plants, quick to hide behind it.

They were speaking so softly Niall could hardly make it out.

Their exchange of words made it difficult to tell who was saying what.

“You hired him?”

“Yeah, what’s it to ya?”

“Nothing. It’s just a little sudden, I think.”

“Well this execution’s pretty sudden too.”

“Are you disagreeing with me?” Stoick raised his voice, identifying that he was speaking this time. “I could have you removed, you know. He’s deserving of it, and you know that.”

“But he didn’t do anything!”

“Harry is an abomination and that’s enough of a reason.”

Niall nearly choked then, which caused his leg to shake against the bush, nearly blowing his cover.

Stoick’s eyes wavered the area, suspicion crossing his expression. He looked back at Gobber with a blank face. “Now don’t bother arguing. My decision is final and it is not to be shared with anyone until tomorrow. Understood?”

“Yes, sir,” Gobber gulped, looking truly frightened.

“Now go on and make the preparations. I need some rest if I’m going to speak tomorrow.”

“Will do.”

When both men wandered off and the coast was clear, Niall slumped against the bushes, confused at what he’d just witnessed. However, the terrible gut-wrenching pain in his stomach already had it figured out.

Harry was going to die. 


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do you do when the one you love is also the enemy? Louis has his goals set on being the best Viking in Berk and all is going well until he meets the mysterious Harry Styles.

“Harry, are you ready?”

“Are you sure I should wear this?” Harry furrowed his eyebrows together in worry, gesturing to his outfit. He was wearing a tight-fitting tunic wrapped across his chest, which extended down to his knees—not to be mistaken for a skirt—with trousers that hugged his legs, bringing out the shapes of those brilliant appendages.

Louis shook his head, his face a scarlet red upon realising the time he’d spent staring at the other male.

“Yeah, you look…great,” he forced himself to say, attempting to hide his sheepish smile.

“I look silly…”

“You look fine, Harry.” Louis rolled his eyes at Harry’s expense. “Really.”

“You don’t look too bad yourself.” Harry pressed his hands to his hips, scanning Louis’ body up and down.

Louis chuckled, peering down at himself. He was dressed alike to Harry with his tunic a dark shade of violet with long white sleeves rolled over his wrists. His pants were tight but loose enough for him to be able to walk at the very least. Plus Louis knew that it was never a bad thing to give himself some extra space in case a situation demanded his trousers to become insufficiently compact.

Harry cleared his throat, finally giving Louis proper eye contact. “Well, I think we’ve fully established we’re both sexy, so shall we?” He held his hand out.

Louis was quick to grab it, giggling softly. “We shall—Hey, careful!” He winced slightly at the pang of pain shooting up his arm.

“Fuck,” Harry quickly released his grip. “I’m so sorry, I totally forgot—”

“It’s fine. It doesn’t even hurt that much.”

“Just be careful. I worry about you sometimes.” Harry clutched his hand, more delicately this time, carefully slipping their fingers together.

Hand in hand, they left for the wedding with Louis’ heart pulsating like a broken record.

The second they arrived, they were greeted by Zayn bombarding his arms over them, clinging onto them uncomfortably tightly before hollering, “The lovebirds have arrived!” to which they neither denied nor confirmed.

“Are you drunk?” Louis asked with amusement.

“No?” Zayn frowned.

“Really?”

“ _Come on._ I know I seem a bit _out_ at times, but even I’m not dumb enough to get wasted before a wedding.”

Louis scoffed. “Somehow I have difficulty believing that.”

“Sod off. Nice outfits, by the way. I bet you dressed each other,” Zayn uttered, smirking.

“No, we—”

“Oi, Niall!” Zayn called out, cupping his hands over his mouth. “Didn’t think you’d show.”

Niall made his way over, appearing slightly disoriented, looking as if he hadn’t a clue where he was or what he was doing.

“Why wouldn’t I?” His eyes wandered the church and stopped at Harry, his shoulders lifting up slowly in a way that was unnoticeable unless one was playing close attention.

“Right,” he spoke once his eyes came back into focus. “Have any of you seen Liam?”

“He had to take a piss,” Zayn replied quickly.

Niall nodded. “Has Stoick given his speech yet?”

“Considering he has yet to arrive, that would be a no.”

“Okay.” His head tilted to the side, giving his neck a slight popping sound. Turning to Harry, he said, “I have to talk to you.”

Harry looked at Louis and then looked back at the blond-haired lad with a look of approval. “Make it quick.”

Niall opened his mouth to speak, resting his hand over Harry’s elbow. He was ready to pull him away to talk in private when the sound of lyres playing surrounded them, making it impossibly loud to speak over.

“Harry!” Niall shouted but he didn’t hear, instead, pretending that Niall didn’t need to speak with him in the first place.

He turned back to Louis, smiling at him before following the crowd to take their seats. The music stopped, thunderous applause spreading throughout with anticipation to see the lovely Eleanor be wedded.

Somehow the clapping came to a halt when Stoick entered through the doors, Gobber and Liam following behind.

Louis frowned at first until it dawned on him that Stoick had to make his announcement before the event fully commenced.

The three made it to the front, Gobber and Liam standing guard on each side while Stoick stood in the middle, his arms folded behind his back.

“As you are all aware, due to the past incident, I am obliged to inform the public about the confidential information we’ve all avoided discussing,” Stoick spoke slow enough for everyone to understand. His eyes scanned the room to confirm that they all his undivided attention. “With that being said, I would like to state the concerns of the general public, that we have a threat, more-so another species, among us.”

Shivers traveled down Louis’ spine, hoping this wasn’t about Harry, but deep down, he knew it had to be.

A man in all black made his way over to the group of boys, offering them some wine. Harry took a sip of his and when he looked back to the front, he noticed that Liam was staring directly at him.

“Yes, we have an opposing force in this town, not to mention an _abomination_ , a creature conjured by demons, risen by the Devil himself. That is why we must put an end to this while we still can.” Gasps filled the room, people muttering things like “Witchcraft! Blasphemy!” in which Stoick had to silence the room by waving his hands in the air. The audience was at a loss of words, a few civilians whispering gossip to each other about the chief and his “insanity.”

Stoick cleared his throat loudly, poking a finger toward Gobber who proceeded to walk over to hand him an elegant velvet scroll.

Pulling it open, Stoick began, “As a warrant of causing damage and insincere behavior among the community of Berk, I hereby sentence Harry Edward Styles to be hanged by the neck until dead.”

Gasps circled in the room, but Louis couldn’t hear them. The glass fell from his hands, the shattering taking what felt like forever to complete with how slow time was moving.

Harry could only stare with the upmost shock, except a part of him had suspected this all along. If anything, it was about _time_ somebody took care of him.

“Now, to make myself clear,” Stoick spoke loudly, “I would like t—”

“You can’t!” Louis shouted over the noise.

“Pardon?” Stoick’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head at the Viking’s outburst.

“You can’t kill him! He did nothing to you,” Louis pleaded between clenched teeth, the anger finally seeping out of his control. It was unfathomable to think that after everything Harry had gone through, he was going to be executed. Stoick didn’t even _know_ him and here he was assuredly making all these assumptions and judgments.

“Preposterous,” Stoick growled. “I ought to have you arrested for this tomfoolery!”

“Then arrest me!” Louis challenged, throwing his hands in the air. Pulling onto Harry’s hands, his legs paced the ground quickly, the two of them sharing the same thought: They had to leave. Now.

“Do not let them escape!” Stoick bellowed, his words sending Louis’ heart into a series of palpitations. He could faintly remember having Stoick yell that to the other men on the same night he had caught the Night Fury, a clear indication that the chief of Berk was now looking down on him—Louis Tomlinson, the twenty-year-old Viking who had once been at the top.

The two boys bolted to the entrance, pulling the crank on the door with all their might. Try as they did, it just wouldn’t budge.

“Ugh!” Louis grunted, looking back at Harry. He tried again, this time with a goal in mind: He would do this for Harry.

At this point the crowd had become rambunctious and gone completely insane, people jumping in the air, children screaming and crying with Gobber trying to calm them down.

Hands covered Harry’s back, dragging him away from the door and knocking him to the ground.

“No!” Louis gathered himself and scurried to grab hold of Harry. “Let him go!” His eyes flew up to meet the tormentor. He wasn’t exactly sure when the hot tears had started raining down but he had the slightest aching suspicious that this very moment was it.

“Liam?” he croaked out in a desperate tone. “ _Please_.”

“I’m sorry.” Liam held a large book with a cross in the air, watching Louis with regretful eyes. He smacked the Bible to the top of his head, knocking him out. With his other hand, he held onto Harry who was screaming and begging to be released. “Forgive me.”

Harry whimpered, watching Louis’ head hit the ground.

“No!” He shouted at the top of his lungs, still struggling to pull himself from Liam’s grasp. “You can’t! I—I—”

Liam tightened his hold, bringing his hands over to strangle Harry. Harry was choking and repeatedly trying to call for help, but Liam only went as long as it took to shut him up.

With Harry’s widened eyes and the fear surging through him, all Liam could say was, “I’m sorry.”

~

“Ow!” Harry hissed in pain, swearing as he tumbled on the ground. Picking himself up, he shot the guard a glare.

“Stay still! Struggling will only bring you more pain,” the guard warned him, his voice far from sympathetic.

“How long will I be here?”

“Three days,” the man said.

Harry’s face went blank. He exhaled loudly, not exactly pleased with the idea of spending seventy-two hours on his own with too much time to think.

His attention went back to the guard who slammed the bars shut, his action causing Harry to stir.

He watched the man curl the ring of keys into the palm of his hands and head the other direction. Harry waited until he was completely out of sight before allowing his body to drop onto the hard floor.

He let out a deep sigh, paying close attention to the rising and falling of his chest because, well, what else was he supposed to do to keep himself from thinking. His insides were singing and churning with the ideas and possibilities as to how he could escape. Frankly, his head ached from the shouting in the church and the screaming from his lungs.

Harry almost found himself laughing at the fact that Eleanor’s wedding had been interrupted yet again. Perhaps that was a sign for her to never marry, but that was the least of his worries. Right now all his mind could gather were a single thought which branched out to simply thinking about Louis’ eyes, Louis’ face, that striking complexion, and just plain and simple _Louis._

He wasn’t sure what he would miss the most. The way the older male’s face would light up when he was speaking of subjects he was passionate for was enough to lull Harry into true bliss as well as flattery that Louis felt comfortable enough to share his hopes and dreams with him. The thought of saying goodbye to that deeply ached Harry’s bones, aroused his legs to frantically transform into jelly, his heart dropping to the depths of the pit, scattered into a million, irreparable pieces.

At the very least, Harry was thankful to have even met such a beautiful human being. In all the beauty Harry had witnessed, the bright colors in the sky that varied in altitude when he flew, there was hardly anything comparable to a fraction of a second spent with Louis.

It was truly a shame he had to part so soon.

In a way, though, Harry was relieved at how this would end. He would much rather die than have to deal with his broken heart. Given that Harry was never truly complete to begin with, there was no saying how his feelings for this particular boy could affect him.

God, Harry had been so naïve. So insolent. So _stupid._ Even with the signs and signals he’d received, nothing was necessary screaming that Louis was madly in love with him. Such a thought even foolish to consider, the reason being simply that how could anyone stand to love somebody like Harry? He was, as Stoick had said, an abomination. How could that even be the slightest desirable? Besides, Louis deserved better than that. Harry refused to say or do anything to him that could potentially ruin him. He just had to accept that even as he would step up to the noose, his eyes would be watching Louis, his heart racing, his knees buckled up and weak. Not because he would face death, but because of the boy’s mere presence.

Maybe it was better this way. The sooner he left, the less Louis had to suffer. Harry couldn’t imagine the things he’d put him through thus far, and he certainly didn’t wish for any of that to continue.

He leaned his head against the wall entirely sculpted of stone, which was unfortunate. Harry had never been to prison, and he had always expected the walls to be made up of wood or some other material that would be easier to break out of, but, then again, why would anyone build anything that guaranteed such easy escape?

He grunted in frustration, struggling to get himself into a comfortable position which was difficult to do when his hands were tied—chained, actually—behind his back, restraining him from actually doing anything. Harry let the pain settle in, accepting his brutal fate.

His eyes wandered over the metal bars, counting each one over and over in an attempt to think of nothing else. The walls around him appeared to be shrinking, his vision blurring as his head rocked back every now and then, tossing him in and out of sleep. He nodded his head, banging it against the wall which bolted him awake. Both of his legs had fallen asleep at this point, making him limp and literally unable to stand. It was an eerie sensation: his legs feeling literally like jelly, but maybe it was better than having to move.

Harry’s sides twitched, his thoughts taking their toll. How many hours had he spent sitting here waiting? Well, if it had originally been Stoick’s intention to make him suffer, he had certainly done his job well. Harry would much rather be executed now than later, but it had been too long, and now he felt alone in the world. He _was_ alone in the world. The short time spent in Berk almost made him feel as if he was among friends, finally, in a place where he felt he truly belonged. That was, of course, if he forgot that he had scales and a tail and the compulsive need to do whatever it took to stand out.

Harry wanted Louis to hold him. He wanted Louis to love him back, kiss him, and hug him with no intention of letting go. A tear slipped down, his lips trembling as he allowed himself to drown in sadness and longing that would never be fulfilled. He shook his hands, trying to somehow bring them over to the front. Silly as that was, he wanted to spread his arms across his chest and pretend it was Louis. He wanted to pretend Louis was here, letting Harry lean himself into his neck, pulling him into his welcoming arms, shielding him from the outside world.

All Harry wanted now was to see the boy again. If he had just a second to spare, he would undoubtedly spend that with him.

He would do anything to see him one last time.

Sniffling his nose, he pretended every part of him wasn’t aching for the other boy’s presence and tried his best to relax. Harry repeatedly told himself that life wasn’t fair, that this was reality and that was why a happy ending ceased to exist, and that there was nothing he could do about it.

Harry brought his knees to his chest, despite the fact he still felt groggy, tired, and weak. He desperately tried to get a hold of himself, to keep his knees from falling back down, which was difficult to do with no support from his hands. He groaned, deciding that everything sucked, and there was no use bothering to fix that.

His eyes were starting to close, his thoughts growing weary and hazy as time went on. He rolled in and out of sleep until a loud bang caused him to jump awake. Harry checked to see if he had bumped his head again, and once he proved himself wrong, his eyes trailed to outside the bars where he heard the reverberating footsteps.

Struggling to drag himself forward, he grunted in pain. He had been out of movement for so long that even the slightest motion ached his bones. So he gave up, settling on just sitting there since there wasn’t really another option.

“Harry?”

Harry’s head perked up, watching the other male’s head poke out from corner of his eye. Outside the bars stood his former friend, staring at him sadly.

But somehow, Harry couldn’t find it in himself to feel angry. In fact, he was smiling.

“Come to torture me, eh?”

“No,” Liam said, grabbing onto one of the metal bars. “I wanted to talk.”

“Well, alright. I can’t promise I’ll be nice, but go ahead.” The attitude was unintentional, really. Maybe Harry had simply been without communication for ages that he had forgotten how to act around others. Or maybe it was the fact that Liam had betrayed him, and Harry owed him nothing.

Liam cleared his throat, still wearing that same glum expression. “I’m really sorry about this. I didn’t want any of this to happen, but I couldn’t risk it.”

“Risk what? Getting fired? Losing Stoick’s trust?” Harry scoffed, finding Liam’s persona rather unreasonable.

“Getting killed.”

Harry stared at him for a moment before sending his snarky reply, “Can’t be too bad. I mean, look at me. I’m going to die, but I accept that. In fact, I welcome death.”

Liam raised an eyebrow, confused at this odd behavior he was exhibiting. He shook his head. “Look, Harry. I understand how hard all of this is, but—”

“No, you don’t.”

“Harry—”

“Don’t.” Harry’s shoulders went up, trying to get himself to stand but failing miserably. “How can you say you understand? You don’t, Liam, _you don’t._ You don’t understand how hard it is leaving your life behind. You’ll _never_ understand how hard it is leaving everything you love behind. Don’t try to tell me you understand when you don’t have a fucking idea.”

“You’re a dragon,” Liam pointed out the obvious, his voice growing shaky. “I know that might seem normal to you and Louis and maybe even Zayn, but it’s not. The punishment is harsh, I get that, but Stoick isn’t doing this for fun. He knows what he’s doing.”

“How could you say that? He’s the one who led the village to their deaths!”

“Really? I thought only a _dragon_ could find the nest.”

“Oh, so you’re going to blame me now?” Harry exploded. “It wasn’t my fault! I was taken against my will! It was all I could do. They were going to kill me!”

“And look where that’s gotten you,” Liam pointed out, his voice marking the end of their confrontation. “Argue all you want, be angry, but nothing is going to change Stoick’s mind.”

Harry dropped himself to the ground completely, giving up his attempts of trying to stand. He huffed a quick breath of air, his indignation going to his head, his blood pounding loudly in his cheeks.

“I’m still your friend, I hope you know that,” the brunet spoke again, to which Harry said nothing. “But this has nothing to do with that. This is _business._ ”

Harry watched him leave, frowning at the disbelief of his words, wondering how he’d missed the fact that Liam was clever as shit.

Harry somehow fell asleep for a few hours, and by asleep, he tossed in and out of sleep, moving from side to side, trying to find some comfort against the cold and hard floor. At times he was shivering, his teeth chattering, his lips quivering. He dreamt of Louis and nothing else. Sometimes his dreams were mixed with his thoughts where he’d wake up in Louis’ bed only to wake up again in his cell.

One time he woke up to the sound of Louis’ voice calling for him. His eyes flew open, his body crawling desperately forward to meet the figure approaching his cell. He heard his name again, and he blinked a couple times before realising that he wasn’t dreaming, that he was really seeing it.

Louis.

He wasn’t sure if he’d said it or thought it, but there he was, staring back at him, with gloom written all over his expression.

Louis continued to watch him, slowly slumping to the ground, clinging onto the bars as if he was trying to get through to touch Harry. Desperately, Harry used all of his strength to push himself forward, grabbing onto the bars for support. He began to wonder when was the last time he ate, which led him to think back on how long he’d been here.

Harry reached for Louis’ hands which were shaking as well, cold when they brushed against his. Louis tightened his grip, their friction slowly creating warmth, which reminded Harry of how Louis made him feel.

“How long do I have?”

Louis let out a troubled sigh, bringing one hand over to the touch the side of Harry’s face. “Five hours.”

Harry’s heart sank, realising more time had passed than he’d thought. He continued attempting to breathe at a normal pace, mentally trying to prepare himself.

“I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner. I was out for a day.”

Harry nodded, remembering Liam had knocked him out with a book. He licked his lips, tasting how rotten his breath was, wondering how he hadn’t noticed it sooner. “I missed you, you know. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”

“Well, I’m here now!” Louis let out a forced laugh, his expression falling blank almost immediately.

Harry somewhat smiled, his heart sinking further and further with every word. “Promise me you’ll remember me.”

“Of course I—”

“No, I’m serious, Lou. I don’t want you to ever forget about me.”

Louis sighed, remembering why he’d come here in the first place. After spending six hours arguing with Zayn as to if he should bother visiting Harry at all, he was relieved to have made the right choice.

His breath caught in his throat when he caught the sad expression the other boy wore. He gulped, his palms growing warmer as a result of his excessive anxiety and perspiration as well as the heat radiating from Harry's skin.

"How could I?" Louis said with a small laugh. "You're such a big part of my life, if anything, you're way _too_ involved."

Harry found himself truly smiling for the first time in what felt like forever. He would really miss hearing Louis' jokes and simply hearing him talk.

Louis drew his eyes to the ground, feeling something tightening in his throat. "I honestly don't know what I'll do when you're gone."

"You'll be fine."

"I don't know—I really don't..." Louis' eyes stuck to the floor.

"Don't cry, please don't," Harry noticed, lifting Louis' chin with a finger. "If anything, I should be crying."

"You're so brave. I don't know how you do it," Louis told him with amazement. "You’ll been put through so much _shit_ and yet you’re still here.”

“Not for long.”

“I know. It’s just—you’re amazing, Harry. And I wish I knew you better.”

“What are you saying? You know everything about me.” It was true. Nobody knew him better than Louis.

“And yet I still feel like I have lots to learn. It’s weird, right? I guess we just never spent proper time together.”

“I don’t know about that. The sex was great,” Harry said with a shrug, causing Louis to begin chuckling. Harry smiled as well, forgetting about the horridness of the situation for a second.

Louis’ face fell again, his eyes watching Harry carefully. “I’m gonna get you out.”

“No.”

“No?”

“I can’t escape this one, I just, I can’t,” the curly-haired lad tried to explain, his words sounding awkward and out of context. “This has gone too far, and it needs to end. I can’t keep running away from my problems. How on earth would I get out anyway?”

“There’s always a way out,” Louis gritted between his teeth. “At least that’s what you’ve always said.”

Harry shook his head. “No, not this time.”

“You can’t just give up like this!”

“You know you’re the only one still on my side? Even Liam’s turned his back on me. I’m honestly surprised you even came to see me,” Harry admitted, truthfully.

“I saved you once, remember? I can save you again.”

Harry frowned. “How are you so sure of yourself?”

“Because I will do whatever it takes to get you out, or I’ll die trying.”

The younger boy’s head perked up, finding it unable to believe Louis had actually said that. He furrowed his eyebrows, a strange tingling sensation filling his insides, causing his body to grow warmer.

“You—” He began, strategically trying to formulate his words, but the surprise had him tongue-tied. “You really...mean that?”

“More than anything,” Louis spoke with confidence, watching the boy’s eyes light up in advance only to see his expression fall.

“Then we’re both dead men.”

“I can live with that.”

Harry sighed, knowing where this was going. “Louis, you can’t possibly—”

“It’s funny how I haven’t even known you for very long, and I’m already sure about what I want. And that’s you, Harry. No, it’s way past want now. I _need_ you, Harry. And I can’t just stand there and watch this happen when I _know_ I can do something.”

The words caught Harry off guard, causing his heart to go into palpitations, his mind creating endless possibilities and sudden happiness until reality struck him. He nodded his head once, still wondering if he was dreaming everything, that he would open his eyes and Louis would be gone.

He silently prayed that this was real, letting his eyebrows relax. No longer frowning, he stared at Louis, his heart still racing, his mouth dry, feeling as if he was going to faint from the overwhelming emotions he was left with.

The sound of the door creaking open alerted the two of them, knowing their time was limited.

“I have to go,” Louis said sadly, disappointment sinking in.

“Will I see you again?” Harry questioned him in a desperate tone.

The Viking leaned forward, folding a finger below Harry’s chin as a hint for him to move forward. Louis kissed him for a brief minute, their lips gliding together desperately. And even when they pulled away, their mouths lingered close enough for their breaths to hit, the most intimate moment they’d ever shared.

A knot formed at the end of Harry’s throat as he tried to hold himself together. He wouldn’t cry. Not now, at least.

“I promise I’ll set you free,” Louis whispered in his ear before standing up.

They stared at each other for a matter of seconds before the older male let out a sigh, starting to pick up his feet.

Harry watched him leave. He might have muttered something endearing desperately under his breath, but Louis was long gone. 


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do you do when the one you love is also the enemy? Louis has his goals set on being the best Viking in Berk and all is going well until he meets the mysterious Harry Styles.

“Louis, you have to stop shaking.”

The Viking narrowed his eyes, snapping out of his thoughts. His attention went to his hands trembling with the anxiety overwhelming him. He took one look at Niall, and that was all it took to drop his expression to glower at him.

“You knew, didn’t you?”

“I don’t—”

“No wonder none of this is the least bit surprising to you. You’re probably still siding with Liam.”

Niall let out a sigh, his eyes darting to the ground. His hands brushed against his arms, scratching the hair which was itching to the point, his nervousness not put to ease one bit.

“I overheard Stoick and Gobber.” He sighed again, flicking his eyes back to Louis, “when they were discussing the execution.”

What was best described as anger flashed Louis’ face. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Would it have changed anything?”

“We could have escaped!”

“They would’ve found you,” Niall pointed out, Louis’ mouth only pening to realise that his friend was right, that there was nothing nobody could have done to prevent the inevitable.

“I’m just surprised over Liam as you. You have to believe that,” he said after a moment of silence, his heart sinking with every word.

Louis gave him a hard look, trying to understand the share of betrayal. He might have expected it from Zayn, but never Liam.

“I believe you. And I’m sorry,” he added, his breathing growing narrow with the wind hitting him hard.

He stared up at the skies which were ironically blue for this particular day. The different shades of blue mingled with the fluffy clouds brought back the memories of the previous days and weeks, reminding him of the freedom and happiness he’d once had. It was funny how he had been so clueless about everything, and now it was all crystal-clear to him. It almost brought tears to Louis’ eyes if it weren’t for the wind already hitting him in the face.

“What are you thinking?”

Louis looked at Niall, blinking a couple of times to prove to him that he wasn’t crying because, in fact, he wasn’t. It was pathetic to cry now when doing so would only waste time and energy.

“It’s just…I’m not ready to say goodbye.”

“Maybe you don’t have to.”

Louis shook his head. “There’s no way out. Trust me, I’ve thought of everything.”

“But what about Harry? You gave him a promise, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I’m aware of that.”

Niall crossed his arms. “So?”

Louis shrugged, questioning his motives right as he spoke. “There’s nothing wrong with giving him a little hope.”

“But bear in mind you’re also getting his hopes up for nothing.”

Louis shook his head again, unable to wrap Niall’s words around his brain. He simply didn’t understand… Louis hardly understood it himself, but it was killing him inside that he wasn’t capable of fully speaking his mind and expressing how he felt.

“You don’t want Harry to believe he has no hope because _you_ refuse to believe this is happening.”

Louis said nothing to that, but the slight change in his body language told Niall otherwise.

“Louis…” he began, his voice calm and inferring pity, something that Louis refused to receive on concurrent terms but brought his heart to sink and his throat to tighten at this very moment.

“I-I don’t—I can’t. I can’t watch him,” he gulped, “die.”

Niall was unsure of what more he could do to convince Louis that he could save Harry, for he was losing hope himself.

“Good thing it’s set up privately, then,” he could only say.

Louis nodded, though the reassuring words caused no relief. Whether or not he attended the gallows didn’t change Harry’s terrible fate. Louis would still have to face the loss.

“I’m going to see him again. One last time.”

Niall nodded slowly. “Good luck.” He gave a quick pat on the lad’s back encouragingly, watching Louis head off.

He dropped his gaze to the floor, trying to ignore that gut-wrenching pain in his stomach as a result from feeling at fault for ruining so many lives with one little mistake.

Exhaustion was crawling through Louis’ body as he made his way back to Harry’s cell. His heart was racing, and he decided he needed to get some sleep after this if he wanted to at least _try_ to feel better. That was all insignificant right now, of course, but he needed _something_ to think about.

Scanning the different cells, he looked for Harry. How he had been so stupid to forget which one was beyond him, but that didn’t keep him from continuing to search. He were beyond tired, the bags under his red-rimmed eyes making it harder to see with wanting to close every few seconds.

His eyes rolled around a bit until Louis rammed them into focus with the only importance reeling in his mind: Harry.

He searched every cell, twice, even, with no sign of the lad. Louis began questioning himself, wondering if he’d even entered the right building.

Then it dawned on him that maybe it was already time, and that was why Harry wasn’t here.

His heart sank, taking his entire being down with him. Frozen— _paralyzed—_ with shock and something he couldn’t describe, he accepted the fact quickly.

There was a knot constricting his throat which Louis had to swallow several times to counteract the part of him that wanted to scream and shout and beg for Harry to return.

But he knew that wasn’t possible.

Harry was gone for good.

Wrapping himself around the depressing fact, he decided he might as well leave, an extra step when he walked— _trudged—_ home. If he was to be honest, he really didn’t feel anything. No remorse, no sadness, nothing. Just that little pain in his lower abdomen shouting at him to throw himself into bed and never get up.

At the same time, there was a part of him wanting to continue his search and find Harry, even if he ended up at the gallows. Even if he had to watch the horrors unfold, at least he would see Harry one last time.

Instead, he gave up and dropped to his knees, his breathing hitched and gasps escaping his throat as he tried to forget the gut-wrenching pain that was taking over every part of him. He inhaled and exhaled deeply, snapping his eyes shut.

“Calm down… Easy there… Relax…” He whispered loudly.

He went home after that and sat on his bed for what seemed like eternity. Louis crashed at some point but awoke about seven hours later when the realisation hit him like bricks.

_Harry was dead._

And yet, there was a part of him that told him otherwise, that maybe the boy wasn’t dead, that maybe he was still locked up, that maybe they had moved him, that maybe they only banished him, that maybe he had somehow escaped.

And Louis was set on the possibilities until his friends came to the door a little while later with food in their hands. They entered his house, fake smiles plastered on their faces as they set the materials down.

Zayn was the first to pull Louis in a hug, and as shocking as it was, Louis found himself clinging onto his friend because this was his first sign of comfort in a long time, and he hadn’t realised how much he needed it until now.

Zayn pulled away first, and the second he did, Niall closed the open space again, patting Louis on the back twice. Zayn and Niall looked at each other and back at Louis, nodding slowly and clearing their throats awkwardly.

“Should I…” Zayn gave Niall a questionable look.

Niall just nodded.

“Okay, well…” He began, scratching the back of his neck apprehensively. “Harry, well. He’s—he’s gone.”

Louis took a moment for it to sink in, though the feeling didn’t really hit him. He just stared blankly ahead, nodding his head. He didn’t even consider the possibility as he smiled sadly at the two and continued to nod, as if doing anything more would cause him to break.

“Gonna be okay, Lou?” Zayn shot him a concerning look.

Louis bit down his lip, hard enough for it to bleed. “Fine.”

“Come here.”

Louis shook his head, leaving Zayn’s welcoming arms hanging there. “I’m fine.”

“Are you serious?” Zayn finally exploded, dropping his hands to his sides which made a loud, clapping sound. “You always say you’re fine, _always!_ And most of the time, I get it, yeah, you’re fine, you’re _always_ fine, but are you really always fine? I’m gonna tell you something, and I want you to listen, okay? Because I’m fucking sick of you pretending like you don’t care about anything, and you cannot treat this situation like this. I’m bloody serious, Louis. If you think you—”

“Shut up!” Louis shouted back, his heart pounding loudly in his chest, loud enough to cover his voice. His breaths were shaky as well as his hands as he tried to swallow the pain enveloping his throat. “You want the truth?”

Zayn just looked at him, afraid to say anything more.

“I’m not okay, Zayn. I’m really not. I feel like shit and I kind of want to die right now because it’s all my fault and I ruined everything and now Harry’s gone, and I—” At this point, the tear ducts had released, hot and desperate tears racing down his cheeks, the pain he’d been hiding for days finally finding release.

“I don’t know what to do,” he started again. “I always act so cool and collected, but right now I have no clue about anything, and it doesn’t help that Harry’s not here to help me get through it, and I just—” His words were rushed, but he was trying to get them out before the tears got in the way of his words.

“Louis,” Niall said first, seemingly the best out of the two at confrontation, and overall, giving comfort. “You still have us.”

“Yeah,” Zayn chimed in, nodding. “We’re here for you.”

Louis couldn’t find the nerve to say anything in response, let alone show any signs of approval, so he blinked a couple times to clear his vision.

He cleared his throat, swallowing the saliva that had gathered in his mouth from his almost-breakdown. “I need some time alone.”

“You need to rest first—”

“You need to let me do what I need to do,” Louis snapped but felt bad about it right as he saw the surprised look on Niall’s face. “Sorry, I just—I really need to be alone right now, alright?”

“We understand. Just—please don’t do anything stupid.”

Louis gave his head a slight nod before turning for the door. “See ya.”

He wasn’t sure where he was headed, but his mind told him “anywhere but here,” and that was that. Louis found himself stumbling upon a familiar patch of the woods until it came to him that he’d been here with Harry, which caused his lips to tremble and his legs to pull him along a different path.

When he grew tired of walking, he let his body drop to the forest floor where he allowed himself to stare up at the sky and reminisce all those times he spent flying with the dragon, without the knowledge that Harry had been the dragon at the time.

Louis sprawled his body around the grass, ignoring how slightly uncomfortable it made him feel. He found himself turning to his side, ready to face Harry, until it hit him again.

He stood up, walking further into the forest before fully acknowledging the truth. He made it to the familiar rocks and passed through to enter the cove when his breath caught in his throat at the beauty he hadn’t seen in days.

The skies were as sunny and beautiful as usual, and the light bounced off the plants and trees and water, and everything was just really serene, but, however alluring the sight, his vision was deceiving him as if it was easier to focus on the little positive details to avoid thinking of anything worse.

Louis let out a sigh, watching the way the sun reflected the blue waters, reminding him of the time he’d swam with Harry, if he could call it that. He could recall running off after calling him an arsehole, the memory sendiing chills up and down his arms.

He wasn’t sure what led him to do so, but he began talking out loud, as if Harry was here.

“Harry,” he said at first, surprised by the sound of his own voice. “Well, I’ve certainly lost it.” He laughed.

“You know, we’ve been so great these past few weeks—well, we were, I guess—” Louis stiffened at his mistake but continued, “and I completely forgot about how we met and how rude I was to you and how we didn’t like each other, and, well, that’s definitely changed. I would say I wish I could take back all those mean things I said to you, but they shape up what we became, so I can’t really regret anything, right?

“I know I made some mistakes, I might have even broken your heart somewhere in the middle. I know I told you I don’t believe in love, but I’m not really sure anymore. I mean… You were my first kiss, did you know that? I never liked kissing because it’s so intimate, and I’m afraid of feelings, but that’s nothing new.”

“I don’t know what I’m doing here. I thought coming here would cheer me up, make me at least forget about the bastards who killed you… But I find I can only think of you. I mean, this was where we always hung out. Maybe I’m stupid, and maybe I like suffering, but maybe I just like remembering you. I _did_ promise I wouldn’t forget you, but then again I also promised I would get you out, which, looking at our current situation, I failed at.” He laughed without humor, mostly to hide the aching pain growing in the back of his mouth again.  

“I have to leave soon or Niall and Zayn will worry. I might as well try and eat dinner and move on. Not too sure about that last part…but I’ll manage. Like I always do.” Louis paused to wipe away a tear, “I know love’s a big word, and it’s not like me to use it, but I mean—I don’t know. You’ll always be special to me, Haz. I’m just sorry I never got to prove it. I’ll make it up to you, I swear.”

Somehow he found the strength to bring himself to stand up. Taking slow and easy steps, he began making his way back to the village, slowly starting to accept the fact that Harry was dead and would never come back.

Louis tried not to think about the intimate moments they’d shared and how every second they spent together had meant the world to him.

He made himself pretend that Harry had never entered his life as a coping mechanism so that he could forget temporarily, not that he was actually _forgetting_ him. How could he?

He began to wonder what was even waiting for him back at home. Niall and Zayn were all he had now, well, and his mum, of course. But he wasn’t too sure about gaining his trust back from the village. He was, as a matter of fact, positive he had become one of the least respected.

Maybe he should stop walking and stay here, at least for however long it took for the mayhem to end and for life to return to normal. Somehow Louis couldn’t see that happening, at least anytime soon, with the unbelievable events that had occurred.

Louis was staring at the ground, so focused on getting each step as to not think of anything else that the sudden force that slammed in front of him caused the wind to pick up, which caught him off guard.

He fell, and his eyes involuntarily snapped shut. When they opened, his eyes widened and his mouth nearly dropped.

He opened his mouth to talk, but he was at a loss for words.

The boy was still wearing his formal attire from the wedding with the exception of the dust and dirt stained into the fabric. His face was covered with grime, making it almost difficult to recognize him. His curly locks were unbelievably messy and greasy, and perhaps that was the result of not having showered in days.

But most importantly, his eyes were what caught Louis the most. They were just as green as ever, showing nothing but _Harry_ in them, something Louis had yet to get used to.

Louis blinked twice, wondering if he was actually here. Maybe he was dreaming because how could it be? There was no way Harry could have returned from the dead or survived the hanging? Was there?

Slowly, they approached each other, their eyes never leaving each other.

“Harry?” Louis slowly raised his eyebrow then dropped his expression to a blank one.

Harry didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. All he had to do was smash their lips together to prove he was real, that he was here, that Louis wasn’t dreaming it.

“You’re alive,” Louis mumbled against his lips, a little dizzy. He breathed into the boy’s face, touching his cheeks. It was definitely him. He was alive.  

Harry half-smiled. “Of course I am.”

“But…how?”

Harry folded his lips to a thin line, and clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “I guess you could say…I was lucky.”

It began a few hours after Louis had left him in his cell. He was lying around, trying to convince himself that Louis would come after him, that he would escape, but there was a part of him that doubted he was getting out alive.

Then the guards came and took him away, all of it flashing by so fast it was almost a blur. Harry didn’t remember much; just that he was leaving his cell as well as his life behind.

He saw the noose in front of him as he was pushed onto the platform. He gulped a couple times before allowing the guard to wrap the rope over his neck. Harry closed his eyes and waited for death when a voice called out from the small group of people gathered around him.

“Let him go!” Liam shouted, which gained attention from everyone, including Harry. Stoick glowered at him darkly, that same look he had when Louis had protested Harry’s arrest.

Liam took a step forward, crossing his arms. Then he said with the upmost confidence, “If you’re taking him, you have to take me too.”

Stoick simply shook his head, looking absolutely annoyed. “This is ridiculous.”

And so Liam made sure to prove him wrong. As quick as he could, he retrieved a pocketknife from his pocket, pressing the blade to the edge of Gobber’s neck.

“Let Harry go or I kill him.”

Stoick only stared at them for several seconds before nodding his head at the guard standing beside Harry. _He didn’t care._ Obviously Liam’s threat hadn’t worked, and Stoick was more heartless than he’d thought.

As the execution drew out, Harry closed his eyes and patiently waited to feel his neck snap and fall into paralysis, except nothing happened.

Time stood still with the knife still attached to Gobber’s neck, but all attention was focused on the rope circling Harry’s neck. At Berk, they used the short-rope method where one would hang in such a way that guaranteed them a slow and painful death. Necks would hang by the rope for a matter of minutes until suffocation took over.

But somehow, none of that was happening.

Harry was hanging, that was evident, but he wasn’t suffering or feeling any pain.

“Why isn’t he dead yet?” He heard Stoick shout at Gobber with anger clear in his voice. “It’s been nearly an hour!”

Harry’s eyes circled the atmosphere for any sign that could indicate he was dying, that perhaps he was witnessing an out-of-body experience, except for the fact he was currently being hanged, not watching himself be hanged.

Liam moved his dagger back into his pocket, watching Harry closely. Slowly but surely, a smile broke out on his face. He made his way over to Stoick, whispering something to him.

Stoick shot him a surprised look where both eyebrows were raised, and his mouth had dropped.  

And it wasn’t too long after that Harry was released, free to do as he pleased.

“Then I decided to find you, and that’s about it,” Harry finished.  

“But…why?” Louis questioned, still confused as to how he had gotten off so easily.

“Apparently it’s God’s sign of proving a false conviction—that the wrong man was condemned,” Harry explained. “I was innocent to begin with. I don’t really believe in any of that, but I guess I was lucky.”

Louis took a second to understand, and when he did, he nodded slowly. “So, everything’s fine now?”

“I guess you could say so, yeah.” The curly-haired lad was smiling brightly, causing Louis to grin as well, which was quite a change from before.

At this point he couldn’t exactly stop himself from pulling Harry into a warm embrace. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“Me too,” Harry said, patting him gently on the back.

There was just so much to think about.

Harry was alive, and that was already a miracle itself.

How he had escaped was still a mystery, but the reason was believable at the same time.

Louis was just in a mix of emotions, and he didn’t know how to feel about everything.

So he found himself saying of all things, “Well, it’s almost time for dinner.”

“Wait,” Harry said with a laugh, as if it was food was more important than finding out his dead best friend had never died in the first place. “That promise you made… Don’t worry about it.”

“You’re out now,” Louis said with agreement, “but it wasn’t my doing.”

“I heard all those things you said about me, down at the cove.”

“Oh?” The Viking raised an eyebrow. “And how long were you going to wait until you showed yourself?”

“Apparently long enough.”

Louis dropped his gaze to the floor in shame, wondering how much Harry had really heard.

“Did you really mean it, Lou? Everything you said?”

“Yes,” he replied, thinking back on what he said. He gulped, getting lost in those bright emerald eyes, his heart beating faster with every word. “And if you’d let me, I would like to…prove myself to you.”

Harry smirked/ “I don’t see how you can do more. You’ve already made quite the impression.”

Louis grinned, his teeth coming into view. His eyes dropped to Harry’s hand hanging on his side. He grabbed it gently, grasping it tighter as he spoke. “I’m willing to try if you are.”

Harry’s smirk fell into a blank expression; it wasn’t that he was expressionless, but that what Louis had said created such a mess of emotions inside that he wasn’t able to successfully convey how it made him feel.

So he just nodded, tugging onto the other boy’s hand. “We should go now, yeah?”

Louis tilted his head to the side, glancing at the other direction before scrutinising his eyes to stare directly into the green orbs. “I think you need a shower.”

A smirk crossed Harry’s expression as he leaned forward and cupped a hand over Louis’ ear.

“I’ll race you to the cove.”


	21. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the long-awaited epilogue. Sorry for the wait but I hope it was well-worth it. :)

Louis has never liked weddings, and his opinion wasn’t about to make a miraculous change today.

He and the rest of his friends are sat comfortably in the brown pews towards the front of the church, waiting eagerly for the ceremony to begin.

The fact that Eleanor desired a wedding even after everything the village had gone through was unfathomable, but in a way, Louis sort of understood. Just because there were obstacles didn’t mean that they couldn’t be overcome, especially, in this case, by love. It was a cheesy thing to consider, and Louis wanted to smack himself upside the head for even thinking it. But it’s almost sweet.

Sitting next to the Viking was curly hair and green eyes, a hand tangled with Louis’, with their knees brushing together. Louis smiled fondly at Harry, though he was growing rather impatient.

“Can we ditch?” Louis asked. “I mean, I’m not really that close to Eleanor anyway. I doubt she’ll even notice.”

“You really hate weddings, huh?”

“I really hate weddings.”

Harry sighed, his potent grin visible even in his annoyed expression. “This is important, and we’re going to stay. Just hang in there, yeah?”

Louis pulled his hand away from Harry’s, crossing his arms. “Yeah, yeah.” His eyes dropped to the floor as he began to search for patterns to pass the time. 

“Louis?”

He looked up. “Yeah?”

“Nothing. I just—” Harry licked his lips. “I’m really happy you decided to come.”

“I didn’t really have a choice, did I?”

“Well, no. But you know how much I love weddings.”

“Unfortunately,” Louis grumbled. The music began playing right as he added, “If I fall asleep, don’t bother waking me up.”

Strangely enough, the Viking found himself very much awake throughout it all. It seemingly didn’t take very long for the bride and groom to take their vows, and it wasn’t _totally_ brutal. It even made Louis smile at one point (just barely) when he began to imagine his own future—a future he wouldn’t mind spending with Harry. No rush, though.

“Oh boy, the after party,” Niall said in the least uplifting way. Louis first didn’t understand what him so down until his eyes wandered to the pews right across from them where Liam stood.

Louis sighed softly, his heart a little faint. Grabbing onto his friend’s arm he ushered a few words of reassurance as they exited the church and into the building the reception would take place at.

“You don’t think Stoick would indulge in this wedding, do you?” Zayn said to them.

Louis scoffed. “I very well doubt it. It’s private for a reason.”

“Well then. I suppose you wouldn’t have a look over there, would you?”

The brunet’s eyes followed Zayn’s finger which pointed to one of the tables in the middle of the room. Louis frowned instantly, his mouth suddenly dry.

“What’s he doing here? Was he even invited?” He was trying really hard not to panic, but it’s not so easy when your dragon boyfriend is standing right beside you.

“I dunno, but he’s looking at you. You should go talk to him.”

It was true; Stoick was staring right at him, his expression void of any emotion. If he felt any hatred toward Louis, he was doing an excellent job of hiding it.

“And why would I do that?”

Zayn rested a hand on his shoulder. “He’s not a bad guy, Lou. He just made a mistake. It won’t hurt to exchange a few words with him. Who knows? He might surprise you.”

Louis frowned, crossing his arms. “Why do I sense that you know something I don’t?”

“You’re way too paranoid for your good,” Harry told him. “Just do it, yeah?”

“Fine.”

Zayn’s eyes widened instantly. He raised his eyebrows at Harry, watching with awe as Louis made his way to the chief. “How on earth did you do that?”

Harry grinned. “Do what?”

Zayn shoved him. “Like you don’t know.”

Louis was all shaky legs and sweaty palms by the time he reached the table. Stoick was picking through what appeared to be chicken, while Louis sat down beside him, waiting for some kind of acknowledgement.

“Louis,” Stoick said without looking up.

“Stoick.”

“Definitely try the chicken. Trust me when I say that you won’t regret it later.”

Louis cleared his throat, folding his hands over his lap. “Listen, I just—I came here to say something.”

Stoick’s eyes met with his then. “What’s that?”

“I don’t think I quite understand what happened the other day with the execution.”

“I’m not sure I do either,” the chief admitted.

“Oh.” Louis wrestled with the thoughts in his mind before deciding there wasn’t really anything more he wanted to add. “Well, okay.”

He started to head back to his friends when Stoick began talking.

“Listen, I want to apologise for what happened with your friend.”

Louis tried not to look too surprised as he returned to his seat. Whether or not Stoick’s display was genuine, Louis didn’t think he would never show him such kindness.

“You almost killed him,” he argued, though his tone was far from angry.

Stoick lifted his jug to his lips, the sound of the cool liquid traveling down his throat. “You were right about everything. The nest, the dragons, the creature. I should have listened,” the chief said with a low sigh.

“Yeah, you should have.”

“Don’t give me that. I’m trying to show my gratitude,” Stoick spoke sharply. “Listen, there are going to be changes around here.”

Louis tried not to scoff at that. There were always changes, but never anything beneficial to the village. “Like what?”

“There will be a ban on hunting dragons. I’m not saying we’re going to coexist with these animals, because I’m sure that would create a danger to our people, but we’ll find our way. One step at a time.”

“You say ‘we,’” Louis pointed out, thinking through the elder’s words. “Who’s ‘we’?”

“We, the people. That’s kind of catchy.” Stoick pressed a hand to his beard. “We might have to make that our motto.”

“This is…” Louis didn’t know how to digest all the information Stoick was feeding him. “This is a big step. It’s a lot for you and Gobber to handle.”

“I know, but there’s our loyal assistant Liam.”

Louis cringed at the mention of his name, but he would make no comments.

“And then we have you.”

The brunet leaned forward in his seat with his eyebrows pressed together. “Me?”

“Yes.”

Louis only frowned, confused as to why Stoick was leaving him hanging with a one-word reply. “What about me?”

“We were good friends, your father and I.”

Louis blinked hard.

“Not entirely sure why he ever left Berk, but he was a great man. He spoke endlessly of you, even before you were brought into this world.”

“What does he have to do with anything?” He could only do so much not to raise his voice.

Stoick took another sip of his wine. “I’ve known you your whole life, Louis.  And even though we never quite saw eye to eye on things, since that time I realise...I may have underestimated you. You’re more than I give you credit for.”

Louis could pretend that his insides weren’t about to explode from the overpowering joy, but the smile appearing on his face was unavoidable. Somehow all he could manage to say was, “Um...what?”

“Which is why you’ll be working for me from now on. You see, even with the idea that our community will accept dragons, there are still many precautions we have to bear in mind. The safety of our citizens comes first, and there is far too much on my plate to take care of every matter. So, I’m putting you in charge.”

Louis crossed his legs. He scanned around briefly, looking back to see that his friends disappeared.

“You will create an organization that cares for the well-being of the dragons, making sure they don’t harm our people while also treating them as equals. The rest is up to you,” Stoick finished, a skip in Louis’ heartbeat.

“This is... This is official, right?”

The chief smiled. First a compliment and now an uncharacteristic grin. Hopefully Louis would wake from this horrible nightmare soon enough. “We’ll talk later. I think someone’s waiting for you.” His eyes flashed over the top of Louis’ head.

Immediately, Louis turned around to view the gorgeous figure standing behind him.

“How’d it go?” Harry asked, taking him by the hand.

“Weird...” Louis frowned, still caught off guard by Stoick’s sudden kindness. “Wait. You knew about this, didn’t you?”

Harry grinned.

“You little shit.”

“He told me earlier today. I wanted to surprise you.”

“Well, I’m definitely surprised,” Louis admitted, running a hand across his fringe. “It’s just...unbelievable. I never thought I’d live to see the day that Stoick would actually, I dunno, appreciate me?”

They were making their way back to the rest of their friends; Louis could see Zayn attempting to throw punch onto Eleanor’s dress. He tried his best to stifle his laughter.

“He’s always appreciated you, Lou,” Harry told him. “He just never showed it.”

“Yeah, well. It’s nice.”

The scene ahead of them was only somewhat awkward: Zayn having a chat with Eleanor, Liam standing beside the table and staring off into the beyond, and Niall sitting in the corner with a drink in hand. Louis didn’t know who to approach first.

Zayn seemed to be the safest option. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think you’re the man Eleanor married.”

The brunette laughed at that. “Good to see you, Louis.”

“And you,” Louis greeted her. “How does it feel to be unattainable?”

“Different. Good different, though.” A smile broke out on her lips, and Louis couldn’t help but return the joyous expression; he understood completely. “Where’s the lucky man?”

Zayn answered this time. “He ran off, I think. Probably trying to save himself from the marriage before it’s too late. Poor sod.” The bride elbowed him, as expected.

“What a great day,” Harry said to him, but Louis could only notice the way Niall’s eyes wandered from his drink to the boy across the room.

He felt Harry’s eyes boring into the back of his head as he walked over to Niall, throwing an arm over his shoulder. “How’s it going?”

His friend took a hearty swig, a gasp leaving his mouth after swallowing the thick liquid. His voice came out soft when he spoke. “I hate fucking looking at him, but I can’t fucking help myself.”

Louis ran his hands across Niall’s back, comforting him in the only way possible right now.

“God, he’s coming over here. If he tries to talk to me, I swear.”

“It’s okay. I’m right here,” Louis assured him.

The brown-eyed, brown-haired boy was slow in his endeavor, and it was evident just how nervous he was with the way he kept stopping in his tracks and staring down at his feet. Finally, he came over to Louis and Niall, red-faced and hands crossed behind his back.

“Hi.”

“Don’t even think about it,” Louis snapped at him, his heart stinging just a little.

“I just wanted to—”

“Don’t bother.”

Tightening his grip on Niall’s shoulder, he observed that the boy was shaking, his body tense and his eyes downcast. _He was bloody shaking._

“Niall, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I know you will never forgive me for what I’ve done, but believe me when I tell you I had nothing to do with this. I was only doing my job. It was a mistake, and I regret it more than anything. I deserve every bit of hate you feel for me—I don’t even deserve this explanation, but please, hear me out.”

Niall stood up right then. “Get out of my face.”

“Niall—”

The boy moved closer, threateningly. Louis tried to pull him back, but Niall was too strong. “Just go, Liam. Go before I make you.”

“Don’t make me,” Liam’s voice cracked.

“You’re pathetic.”

“Please, Niall.”

Louis thought he was about to witness a fight right as a familiar voice spoke from behind them. “What’s going on?”

Right away Louis wanted nothing more than for Harry to hold him back because he knew that any second now he would lash out as well.

Niall clenched his teeth. “I’m leaving.”

“No, I have something to say,” Harry insisted, grabbing onto his arm.

Tears sprung from Niall’s eyes. Never in their many years of friendship had Louis seen the boy so upset. “Please. Let me go.”

Louis gulped. “Harry.”

“No, this is important. You can’t stay mad at him forever. You both love him, and that will never change,” Harry told them, a stern turn to the tone of his voice. “He made a mistake, I’m aware of that. But he was there with me at the execution. I know he was doing his job, and I know he betrayed you—all of us—but. It…it was a bloody mistake.” Harry paused to catch his breath. Louis didn’t think he’d ever witnessed him speak so quickly. “He saved my life. If it weren’t for Liam, I probably wouldn’t be here.”

Louis swallowed hard, tears welling up in his eyes at the slightest possibility that Harry wouldn’t have found him in the forest. He didn’t like to think about it much, but the very chance that he could lose Harry like that again chilled him to the bone, and he considered that too often now.

“T-thank you,” Louis found himself saying. “If he’s right—just… Thank you for saving him.”

Niall sniffled. “How did you do it? Save him, I mean.”

“An innocent man cannot be hanged,” Louis recited what Harry had told him.

“I very well doubt that was the case.”

“It was a good enough reason, and it saved him.” Louis tried to sound as calm as possible.

Liam spoke up, “I had a chance to fix everything, so I took it.”

Niall seemed to avoid looking at the brunet even now with the way his eyes were focused on his jug of wine, the tears still fresh on his scarlet face.

“Niall,” Liam said softly, but the boy wouldn’t perk up. “It’s okay if you still don’t forgive me. But please believe me when I say that I never meant for any of that to happen. And I’d do anything for you to not hate me anymore, because I kinda have feelings for you, and they’re kind of the exactly the opposite of hate.”

“I fucking love you,” Niall replied with a groan. “But you’re a little shit.”

Liam began to smile, though he was only testing the waters. The Irishman’s lips began to curve slightly; perhaps in that moment there was room for hope.

“You know, we’re at a wedding, and we’re supposed to be having fun,” Liam said. “Why don’t you pretend you don’t want to claw my eyes out? Just for tonight.”

Niall stood up, setting the wine onto the nearest table. A bit hesitant at first, he took the hand Liam had offered and marched away with him.

Louis let out a sigh of relief, glancing back at Harry who looked about as exhausted as he.

“He really saved you?” he asked as if he needed further confirmation.

Harry nodded.

“I owe him my life.”

The curly-haired boy beamed at that, taking both of his hands and entwining them with his own. Hands at their sides, Louis still felt the electricity buzzing between their bodies, something he would never get used to. He never wanted to dull this sensation, and hopefully the world would comply with his request.

“You have no idea how much you mean to me.”

Louis, taken back by Harry’s comment, tried to hide how flustered it made him. So he grinned like an idiot, averting his attention toward the other guests. From the corner of his eye, he saw Zayn talking to a girl. There was a gleam in his eye that was different than before. The two were laughing, and they seemed to get on surprisingly well, almost as though Zayn had unique intentions this time. It warmed Louis’ heart to see his friend so genuinely happy for once.

“You have no idea how much I want to kiss you right now,” Louis finally responded, Harry’s face equally scarlet now.

Somehow, the two of them ended up outside the building, lips pressed together for brief moments before disconnecting. Short lip pecks and sweet forehead kisses as they laughed over absolutely nothing.

It was getting dark out, and Louis could hear the commotion through the doors. It appeared as though the guests were shouting at the newlyweds to kiss. Classical.

“Where are you taking me?” Louis was a fit of giggles; he absolutely loved it when dragged him around like this, and he was positive Harry knew as well.

“You’ll see.”

“I demand to know!”

“Oh, hush. I’m doing you a favour by getting us out of there.”

Louis couldn’t deny that. It wasn’t that he was opposed to the idea of running off with Harry, but he didn’t exactly what to ditch the party on an empty stomach. Of course, he wouldn’t mention it.

Keen on their surroundings, their destination was predictable, and Louis could find the way in his sleep. Harry seemed excited, though, and Louis wasn’t about to destroy even a shred of that boy’s happiness.

A few minutes of walking and Louis found himself frowning because this was beyond his expectations. When they finally arrived, his eyes immediately gaped at the sight before him.

“Well?”

They were in the familiar patch of the woods, the same place both Louis and Harry went to relax, the same place they shared their special night together. He gulped to fight the rush of memories threatening to recap from his mouth.

“I have to say, I was expecting a night swim or something, but this... This is something else.” That was really all he could say.

“Maybe later.”

“What’s that?” Louis pointed to the basket lying next to a tree.

Harry’s eyes darted down to their folded hands and then flew up to meet Louis’ gaze. He smiled. “I knew you’d be hungry, so I thought I’d do a little something.”

“You’re awfully sweet, and that kind of upsets me.”

“Yeah? I hope you like roast beef.”

The combination of the warm with the cool breeze rustling through the trees made Louis’ eating experience in the forest undeniably cozy. The serenity of the location has always been satisfying for the Viking, and having Harry here with him added to it. The last time they were here seemed like a blur, a memory as vague as what he’d had for dinner last night. That isn’t to say that he regretted it, though. He valued every moment he’d spent with Harry, the good and the bad.

Nostalgia creeping around the corner, Louis began to reminisce the beginnings of their relationship when they first wanted to gouge each other’s eyes out. It was truly strange how things worked out in the end, not that this was anywhere near the end, Louis hoped. They’d been through so much together, knowing the consequences their actions had cost them. Looking at Harry while taking sloppy bites of his roast beef sandwich, the gleam in his eyes and the gaze fixated on Louis, made the mistakes and pain all worth it now.

“What are you staring at?” Harry asked, after swallowing hard.

Louis smirked. “Nothing.”

He finished his food faster than Harry, and was on his way to pouring himself some wine when he realised Harry had neglected to bring any cups. Louis, of course, the nice shit he was, didn’t say anything on it. He’d always wanted to drink from the bottle, anyway.

The older boy sprawled his body across the forest floor, stretching his limbs. He never noticed the exhaustion spreading and aching his muscles until that moment. “Done?”

Harry looked panicked. “You don’t want to go back, right?”

“No, I’m just wondering when it’s acceptable to lay on the grass and look at the moonlight together while sharing a sickeningly, loving gaze.”

Harry smiled. “Pass the wine, you fucking sop.”

Louis began to reach for the bottle, but something caused him to stay frozen in place. Maybe it was the way Harry was grinning at him, and despite the mystery held by Harry Edward Styles, Louis thought that maybe he could read every one of his secrets through one glimpse of that dimply smile.

“Louis? What is it?”

Louis ran a hand through his hair awkwardly. Normally he would shuffle back into what he was previously doing, but he could only stare straight ahead and smile now, his face flustered with the thought of saying the words out loud. Despite his usual confidence, he found himself stumbling on his words, his tongue trapped at the back of his mouth, sweat gathering over the skin beneath his tux.

But he went for it anyway. Because this was life and Louis couldn’t afford to miss the opportunity.

“I love you.” Maybe Harry was a dragon, and maybe Louis had once wanted to tear out his hair, and maybe he was too enthusiastic most of the time, and maybe he was also super annoying and Louis still wanted to tear his hair out, but…Louis loved him and an explanation was never necessary.

Harry’s face fell into something Louis wanted to capture in his memory for as long as he lived. His face beamed instantly, the sight of his Adam’s apple moving as he gulped. “And I you.”

Sickeningly cute might have been the best word to describe the two then, their bodies laying entwined under the stars, a thousand promises disguised by subtle touches and whispers throughout the night.

From the distance they might have spotted a shooting star, but it could have been a dragon for all they knew.

Louis wished on it, anyway.


End file.
